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THE 



SPRING-TIME OF LIFE; 



OR, 



ADYICE TO YOUTH. 



BY 

EEV. DAVID MAGIE, D.D. 

W 
ELIZABETHTOWN, N. J. 

" Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My 
Father, thou art the guide of my youth?" — Jer. iii, 4. 



NEW YORK: 

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 

No. 285 BROADWAY. 



1853. 






"?£ 



\<A X 



v\ 



-v- 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 

ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 
In the Clerk's Office for the Southern District of New York. 



8TERK01YPED BY T. B. SMITH, 

216 William Street. 



~ * * 



• 



* \ 



PREFACE. 



A book can scarcely be said to be uncalled 
for, and certainly it is not of necessity render- 
ed useless, because other books on the same 
general subject have preceded it. Every 
man has his proper gift of God; and with 
modes of thought very much his own, and 
connections and relations in life peculiar to 
himself, he may hope to reach some to whom 
no similar work has found access. Besides, 
it seems to the author that, though new prin- 
ciples and rules for the guidance of the young 
may not be required, yet much can be done 
to aid them in applying principles and rules 
already understood to the exigencies of actual 
life. The welfare of the rising race in his 
own immediate neighborhood, and through 
the country at large, has long been to him an 



IV PREFACE. 

object of deep and prayerful solicitude. A 
ministry, protracted beyond the average 
period, has given him many opportunities 
of reflecting on their perils and responsibil- 
ities, and awakened in him a desire to do 
something which they may regard as a token 
of his interest in their welfare. This has 
prompted him to write, and it encourages 
him to bespeak for what he has written an 
earnest and careful attention. 



CONTENTS 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH 

YOUNG MEN IN DANGER . . , 

POWER OF HABIT .... 

COMPANY ITS INFLUENCE . « 

ERROR-^ITS CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCES 

CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT 

TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN 

BIBLE HONESTY 

INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS 

THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES 

COURTESY .... 

MENTAL IMPROVEMENT 

MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE 

MANLINESS IN YOUTH 

THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK 

CHRIST AN EXAMPLE TO YOUNG MEN 

RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING 



PAGE 

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. 307 



THE 



SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 

"Solomon" my son is young and tender," 
was the remark of one of the best of men and 
kindest of fathers. There is nothing striking 
in language like this, viewed simply by itself; 
and yet it can scarcely be uttered without 
awakening a train of emotions in every gen- 
erous bosom. No other period of life affects 
so deeply human character and destiny, and 
none other calls forth so many solicitudes and 
prayers. 

Three classes of persons range themselves 
around us — the aged, the middle-aged, and 
the young. To each belong hopes and fears, 
joys and sorrows, peculiar to itself. As men 
of gray hairs have trials- and comforts which 



8 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

may very properly be denominated their own, 
so it is also with those in the meridian of life, 
and with bright and buoyant youth. At every 
different period, existence assumes a new phase, 
and requires to be addressed in new and ap- 
propriate terms. None of these groups of hu- 
man beings must be overlooked ; but if it be 
right to discriminate, we can easily see where 
our chief interest should be concentrated. To 
be useful to the young is to be useful for the 
longest time, and on the largest scale. 

But who is sufficient to assume the office of 
guide to a company of immortal beings, in the 
morning of life! I feel oppressed, beloved 
youth, with the burden of responsibility which 
I take upon myself in attempting barely to 
sketch the path in which it will be safe for 
you to walk. Yet one thing encourages me — 
your dearest and best friends, parents, Chris- 
tians and patriots, will all afford me their coun- 
tenance. 

The plan to be developed in the chapters 
before us, will be found to have a compass 
somewhat large. Many topics are to come 
under review, suited to improve your charac- 



THE SEASON OP YOUTH. 9 

ter and advance jour respectability, which are 
not made the basis of public instruction as 
often as their importance demands. My wish 
is that you should be thoroughly equipped for 
the great work of life. Eeligion is indeed to 
give shape to each distinct theme ; but it is to 
be religion as connected with every-day du- 
ties and enjoyments, and affording every-day 
strength and consolation. Making one's " call- 
ing and election sure," is not the only thing 
required — you must " do justly and love mer- 
cy," as well as " walk humbly with God," 

Let me begin by calling your attention to 
some remarks on the season of youth, consid- 
ered in its bearing upon the whole after-life. 

1. At no subsequent time are such valuable ac- 
quisitions made. Now it is, that the affections 
are most ardent, the heart most susceptible, 
the memory most retentive, and all the mental, 
moral, and physical faculties most susceptible 
of improvement. Everything leaves its im- 
press on the young : the countenances they 
look at, the voices they hear, the places they 
visit, the company they keep, and the books 
they read. It is impossible to over-estimate 



10 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

the importance, for this world and the next, 
which attaches to a few of the earlier years of 
one's existence. The first quarter of life is 
worth more, as a period of acquisition, than 
all the rest. 

Consider what attainments are made by a 
child within twenty or thirty months from its 
birth. Even while a helpless infant, it learns 
to read inward feelings as expressed in the 
changes which the countenance assumes, and 
can readily distinguish between a smile and a 
frown. Approach it with caresses, and its 
eyes sparkle and its features brighten. Put 
on a forbidding aspect, use angry words, and 
its bosom heaves, its tears fall. This is the 
time for the feeble one to become acquainted 
with the difficult art of poising itself, and 
standing erect. Before it has reached a fourth 
of its size, its step is often as regular as if it 
understood all the laws of gravitation, and its 
motions as graceful as if it had been trained by 
the most skilful hand. And stranger still, 
during this very period the weak and appa- 
rently inattentive creature masters a new lan- 
guage. That which adults never acquire with- 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 11 

out long and patient study, a child gains 
without Grammar or Dictionary, and with 
scarcely a single painful exertion. 

Deem, not such thoughts as these to be trivial 
and unimportant. You will not judge so, be 
assured, if you ever live to become parents 
yourselves, and are permitted to enjoy the ex- 
quisite pleasure of marking how a little son or 
daughter looks up and tries to read your heart 
in your face, or of noticing the first efforts 
which a sweet child makes to go alone, or of 
hearing the busy prattler utter words till they 
become easy, and join syllables until they be- 
come intelligible. 

But I have higher reasons than all these, 
for thus pausing at the threshold of human 
existence, and fixing your attention on the 
future man in his earliest days. Much may 
be learned of the fathomless purposes of the 
Divine mind, and the unravelled mysteries of 
Providence, in such a sight as this. That child 
just beginning to fix its gaze upon its father's 
features, to make trial of the strength of its 
own limbs, and to lisp the name of mother, 
may have a destiny more glorious than yonder 



12 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

sun shining in his strength. What we as yet 
behold is only the first bursting of the bud, 
that the flower may emit its fragrance and dis- 
close its tints. The putting forth of such ef- 
forts by one so frail and tender, is but break- 
ing the shell, so that the living thing within 
may find egress, and open its wings, and 
plume its feathers, and prepare for its lofty 
flight. Now, another immortal being is started 
on its marvellous and hitherto unwritten course. 
A commencement is made, and it is such a com- 
mencement as foretells a rapid and glorious 
progress. 

Premature development, mental or physical, 
is not desirable. Plants that are so forced in 
their growth as to come forward before their 
proper time, seldom have much strength of 
stem, width of leaf, or richness of odor. That 
which grows up in a night not unfrequently 
perishes in a night. But without undue pres- 
sure, and under the influence of the mildest 
and gentlest methods, surprising advances will 
often be made. 

These are the incipient efforts, and they pre- 
pare the way for subsequent and longer steps. 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 13 

Few tilings are more interesting than to con- 
sider what an amount of valuable knowledge 
— knowledge of God and man, of time and 
eternity, of earth and heaven — may be gained 
in the first twelve or fifteen years of one's life. 
During this period the science of numbers and 
distances, opening the door to mathematics, 
geography and astronomy, may be fairly en- 
tered upon and its grand principles mastered. 
Nature, too, begins now to unlock her mysteri- 
ous treasure-house, and the mere stripling of a 
student often finds himself able to comprehend 
the operation of a thousand of those laws on 
which life and happiness depend. Especially 
is this the season to have the mind stored with 
the great events, which fill for us the pages of 
ancient and modern history. Acquisitions 
which cannot be gotten for gold, and for the 
price of which silver cannot be weighed, may 
be made,' and often are made, while one is still 
young and tender. 

Permit me to remark here, that this is espe- 
cially the period of life for adding to the com- 
pass and retentiveness of the memory. To 
reason logically and arrive at wise and safe re- 

2 



14 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

suits, requires a sound judgment ; and such a 
judgment is usually the fruit of deep experi- 
ence, and large opportunities of comparing one 
thing with another. But to collect the mate- 
rials with which a riper understanding can 
work out its conclusions, is the special prov- 
ince of youth. Every one who expects to 
make his mark high in the world, should 
begin early to form a collection of valuable 
facts, and not a day should pass without add- 
ing to their number. 

This, let me add for your encouragement, is 
a work in which you may make a degree of 
progress that will surprise yourselves. It is 
not necessary that a young man, in order to 
become intelligent and well-informed, should 
enjoy the instructions of erudite professors, 
and have access to high-schools and richly en- 
dowed colleges. Many a man has contrived 
to grave his name very legibly in the Temple 
of Fame, with fewer opportunities for improve- 
ment than often in our day fall to the lot of 
the humblest laborer. But this is a thought 
which, though deeply interesting, I cannot 
pursue at present. It is sufficient here to say, 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 15 

that no youth, who feels the workings of a sin- 
gle noble aspiration, need be disheartened at 
any apparent difficulties that lie in his path. 
The highest idea of education is the training 
of the mind to surmount obstacles. 

Volume upon volume, bringing the richest 
secrets of art and science within your reach, 
lie open before you; a very few shillings, 
easily saved from the bar-room or the oyster- 
saloon, will put you in possession of a fund of 
information, to which many of your parents 
and older friends had no early access. Above 
all, the book of God is on your table, and in 
it you are sure to meet with the truest history, 
the best prudential maxims, and the purest 
devotion. Only use well your advantages, 
and you may make acquisitions in comparison 
with which houses and lands are as nothing. 

2. Youth is the season in which impressions 
prove most abiding. It is the time for keeping 
as well as getting, for remembering as well as 
learning, for retaining as well as acquiring. 
To bring truth into contact with the mind of 
an open, ingenuous youth, is like applying a 
seal to the newly melted wax, so that you are 



16 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

sure of getting not only a correct, but a per- 
manent likeness. The lines are drawn deeply 
on the tender heart, and no waves of subse- 
quent business or care can entirely obliterate 
them. Years may pass away, and the head 
blossom for the grave, and the eye grow dim, 
and the hand tremble ; but the scenes of early 
life recut with the freshness of yesterday. 

Youth and old age, in more senses than one, 
seem to be closely connected. If you visit a 
man who/ like a venerable oak, stands while 
every tree around it has fallen, you will find 
that his mind, though almost a perfect blank 
as to recent transactions and events, is alive 
to those of childhood and youth. This is a 
deeply interesting fact, and it deserves to be 
well and carefully pondered by such as are 
laying up a store for time to come. Forget 
what else he may, the patriarch of many days 
is not likely to forget the tree under which he 
played, the brook by which he strolkd, or the 
hill which he climbed when a boy. Half of both 
his waking and sleeping hours are employed 
in living that sunny and halcyon period of his 
life over again. Two thirds of a century may 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 17 

have gone, never to return, but still his thoughts 
linger around the paternal fireside, the bed in 
which he slept, and the room where he joined 
in his mother's prayers. Let me ask those ad- 
vanced in life, if this be not so. You remem- 
ber the very form of groves long since cut 
down, of books long since read, of classmates 
long since gone, and of ministers long since in 
the grave. It is of your memory of the occur- 
rences of last week and yesterday that you 
complain, and not of your memory of events 
a generation ago. These are all vivid and 
fresh. 

Whatever may be said of the latter stages 
of life, its commencement will leave traces 
never to be worn out. The intellect is now 
taking a shape, and the affections receiving a 
texture, and the individual acts turning into 
habits, which, if somewhat modified by after- 
scenes and impressions, are seldom very essen- 
tially changed. This is the point from which 
men start, aud it generally determines their 
whole future course. Here the path is entered 
upon, which leads to virtue or vice, honor or 
infamy, heaven or hell. Let the mother of 

2* 



18 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

John Newton take her little son to her closet 
for prayer, let Doddridge be taught Scripture 
history when a child, by the pictures on the 
chimney-tiles, and let Buchanan, when a boy, 
wander into a church where Jesus is preached, 
and the effect remains. All the agents in these 
tender transactions — parents, friends, ministers 
— may be sleeping in the grave, but their work 
endures. 

What a precious fact is this, and how full 
of encouragement! Give me the successful 
shaping of a child's character in all its earlier 
stages, until eighteen or twenty years are gone 
by, and I shall never, under God, despair of 
him afterwards. Go astray he may, be forget- 
ful he may, become wayward he may, for a 
time ; but by and by the arm of Divine mercy 
will be extended, and the stream which had 
sunk in the sand will rise again to the surface, 
more limpid and life-imparting than ever. The 
disappointment in such cases, we have every 
reason to conclude, will be but partial and 
temporary. 

I grant that radical changes of character do 
occasionally occur, after the most promising 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 19 

part of life is gone. "We sometimes see fe- 
males, who, during the whole of their earlier 
years, seemed to be given to vanity and frivol- 
ity, becoming patterns of everything excellent 
and of good report, when translated into a new 
sphere and invested with new responsibilities. 
So, too, we now and then find a wicked, disso- 
lute young man, who like Cecil or Gardiner, 
lives to repent of his folly, and leads a new 
life. Such reformations, blessed be God, are 
not altogether strange in the history of the 
world and the Church; and when they do 
occur, we are to regard them as illustrious in- 
stances of the power of Divine grace. Nor do 
we hesitate to admit, that here and there a 
child, who once gave promise of better things, 
is left to make shipwreck of faith and a good 
conscience. But I am speaking of what is 
common, and what we have a right in ordi- 
nary circumstances to expect ; for the grace 
of God, though mysterious in its nature and 
sovereign in its operations, was not intended 
to supersede the influence of motives, or coun- 
teract the ordinary laws of the human mind. 
Depend upon it, beloved youth, the impres- 



20 THE SPRING-TIME OF LrlFE. 

sions of early life will remain. Only fill your 
minds at this tender period, with images of 
truth, purity and goodness, and they will stay 
there to enliven the solitude and brighten the 
anticipations of your latest years. But habit- 
uate your thoughts to scenes of vice and deeds 
of infamy, and the taint will stick by you like 
a leprosy, till death comes. Oh, could you 
look at this subject as those look at it who 
have travelled the path, we should oftener 
hear you cry, " My Father, be thou the guide 
of my youth!" 

Examine this subject — the permanency of 
early impressions — I entreat you, in the light 
of testimony and observation. Have you ever 
known a good mechanic, who did not gain the 
elements of success in his youth ; a kind, con- 
siderate master who did not serve a virtuous 
apprenticeship ; an eminent lawyer, physician, 
or divine, who was not a diligent student? 
This is true of those qualities which come into 
play in active, business life; and it is still 
more true of the quiet and passive virtues. I 
question whether jou have ever heard of a 
placid, serene, tranquil and contented old man 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 21 

happy in God and in fulfilling the various re- 
sponsibilities of life, who was noted in his 
youth for noise, recklessness, impatience, or 
want of self-control. This is a kind of wild- 
oats, which, if sown at all, is sure to produce 
a crop. " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, 
or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also do 
good, that are accustomed to do evil." 

Could my voice reach every young man and 
woman in the land, I would warn them not 
to yield their hearts to injurious impressions. 
Little, ah little, do they think, while listening 
to some slur on the profession of piety, or 
opening their ears to some sly objection to the 
truth of the Bible, or poring over the pages of 
some novel filled with tales of lust and blood — ■ 
what havoc all this is making with the peace of 
their own minds, or how it is adapted to cut up 
by the very roots those principles of virtue which 
enter essentially into the formation of a good 
character. This is like poison, taken into the 
physical system, and will be sure, sooner or 
later, to reveal its bitter results. The mark is 
made, not on the sand, but on enduring rock. 

3. Associations are now formed, which go far 



22 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

to mould the whole after-life. Man is so 
made for friendship, for intercourse, and for 
communion, that his joys have a double relish, 
and his sorrows lose half their weight, when 
shared by others. Even a child cannot bear 
to keep either his pleasures or his pains to 
himself. There is, from the first, a felt neces- 
sity for the affections to go out and fasten 
upon some external object. This is the reason 
why most men are so much the creatures of 
circumstances, and why the weaving of early 
ties so powerfully controls every subsequent 
step. The first things not ^infrequently deter- 
mine the last. 

Look at men of eminence in the world, and 
you will generally find that much of the foun- 
dation of that eminence was laid in the asso- 
ciations of early life. Joseph, David, and 
Daniel are examples in sacred story, not only 
of providential leadings and indications, but of 
voluntary choice and preferences having an in- 
fluence, in preparing them for the lofty position 
which they eventually reached. Luther was 
only twenty-nine years old, when he gave the 
Papal Hierarchy his first deadly blow; and 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 23 

Calvin but twenty-five, when lie wrote the im- 
mortal Institutes. Buonaparte was a mere 
stripling when he accomplished his glorious 
campaign in Italy ; and the dew of youth was 
still on the brow of our beloved "Washington, 
when he distinguished himself on the day of 
Braddock's defeat. Who can say how much 
of all that these men accomplished, depended, 
under God, on the course adopted at the com- 
mencement of life ? 

No wonder that good men feel such an in- 
terest in the associations which their young 
friends form. They see that the company 
which you now keep, the principles you now 
adopt, and the habits you now form, are likely 
to settle the question of the future with a cer- 
tainty which is well-nigh infallible. Full well 
do they know, that in the minds, and manners, 
and character of the young, we have an index 
to the state of society, for many years to come. 
Give us a favorable spring, that the precious 
seed may be safely sown, and we shall the 
more confidently anticipate a fruitful summer, 
an abundant autumn, and a plentiful winter. 
The connection is so close between the present 



24 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

and the future, that every step taken now will 
show itself in issues and results, years to come. 
An unfortunate connection may wed a man to 
misery of the most poignant kind, till his dy- 
ing day ; and a happy one may shed a sweet 
and reviving light all along his pathway, till 
it opens into glory. It would be true, had the 
Bible never asserted it — that "whatsoever a 
man soweth, that shall he also reap." 

I am but asserting what all know to be a 
fact, when I say that the hearts of the young 
are full of high anticipations. After the sun 
has passed the meridian, there are few who 
have the resolution to embark in new enter- 
prises, and who feel like trying to accommo- 
date themselves to new circumstances. Old 
people cry out, like Barzillai, " Can I hear any 
more the voice of singing men or singing 
women? Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn 
back again, that I may die in mine own city, 
and be buried by the grave of my father and 
of my mother." Yery proper is this feeling 
for the aged ; but it ought not to be thus with 
those who feel the life-blood coursing warm 
and rapid through their veins. Grod forbid 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 25 

that they should pause and stand still, as men 
who would gladly put off the armor. No, 
beloved youth, you could not be inactive, if 
you would ; and you would not if you could. 
Your hearts throb with impulses, which, like 
an eagle beating against the bars of its cage, 
must express themselves in plans and pur- 
poses and high resolves, or turn back upon 
their fountain to make it stagnant and cor- 
rupt. Can the full-fed war-horse be restrained 
from champing the bit and pawing the earth, 
without breaking his very nature ? We blame 
you not, ardent and aspiring youth, for being 
all alive to those stirring inmovings, which 
are a part of that mental and moral constitu- 
tion conferred upon you by your Maker. Go 
on, we rather say, with firm and earnest steps 
in the path to which God and duty call you. 
But while we thus give you large liberty and 
a clear field, deem it not unkind in us, if we 
feel constrained to whisper words of caution 
in your ears. 

Only apply the principles of Solomon's Prov- 
erbs, of Christ's Sermon on the mount, and of 
Paul's epistles, to every movement you make, 

3 



26 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

and we have no fear for the consequences. 
Let all the associations you form in business 
operations, in companionship for leisure hours, 
and in alliances for life, be begun, continued, 
and ended with God, and you may calculate 
upon their bringing a blessing along with 
them. This will realize the fulfilment of the 
prayer: "May our sons be as plants grown 
up in their youth, and our daughters as corner- 
stones, polished after the similitude of a pal- 
ace." But discard these counsels of heavenly 
wisdom, and give yourselves over to a connec- 
tion with the irreligious, the impure and the 
skeptical, and you fix thorns in your pillow 
never to be extracted. We all know who has 
said, "He that walketh with wise men shall 
be wise, but a companion of fools shall be de- 
stroyed." 

I look forward a few years, and find chil- 
dren become youth, and youth men and wo- 
men in active life. The seeds sown in infancy 
by some fond mother have swelled and grown, 
and become trees of righteousness, and the les- 
sons given by a kind father are yielding their 
appropriate fruit. One comes out and joins 



THE SEASON OF YOUTH. 27 

himself to the industrious, the prudent and 
the pious; while another associates with the 
indolent, the dissipated and the profane. From 
this point you may trace their destiny for two 
worlds. Let me see how youth assort them- 
selves in the school, the workshop and the 
college, and I need no prophet's ken to predict 
what they will be and what they will do when 
they become men. Viciously inclined as a. 
young man may be, a virtuous companionship 
is often the means of his salvation. Virtuously 
disposed as he may be, an unhappy association 
may work his ruin. 

Eeflect, then, my young friend, seriously 
and prayerfully, on the importance of the sea- 
son through which you are now passing. Lit- 
tle do you think how deep an interest is felt 
for your welfare. There is the man that begat 
you, and the woman that bare you, each cry- 
ing out, "My son, if thy heart shall be wise, 
my heart shall rejoice, even mine." Kind 
friends draw near and ask for blessings on 
your heads, which shall reach to the utmost 
bounds of the everlasting hills. Your minis- 
ter prays that you may become his joy and the 



28 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

crown of his rejoicing in the day of the Lord 
Jesus. Above all, God himself looks down, 
and blending his claims with your highest 
welfare, speaks out, "My son, give me thy 
heart." Oh, shall all this interest be felt for 
you, in heaven and on earth, in vain I Will 
you not at this early hour on the dial of hu- 
man life, realize the grandeur and glory of the 
destiny that awaits you ! 

Be faithful to yourselves, to your fellow- 
men, and to God for ten, fifteen, or twenty 
years, and I almost dare promise you a useful 
life, a happy death, and a blissful immortality. 



CHAPTER II. 

YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 

Not many days ago, a gentleman of one of 
our large cities wrote thus to a friend : " When 
I first came to this place, I was a young man, 
with nothing on earth in the way of property, 
but the small bundle which I carried in my 
hand. But a kind Providence has smiled 
upon me, and I have become what the world 
calls rich. Still, as a family, we are far from 
being happy." 

And what is it that is breaking the peace of 
that father's bosom, and chasing away the joys 
of that favored fireside? Wealth is there, 
spacious rooms are there, costly furniture is 
there, and both intelligence and refinement 
are there. Nay more, the parents of that 
household are professors of Christ's name, and 
are in the habit, we may hope, of sanctifying 



30 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

all their enjoyments by the word of God and 
prayer. Such is the confluence of good things 
in this case, that the cup seems to run over. 
Why, then, you will naturally ask, is not that 
a happy dwelling? The answer is short. 
Those parents have just heard of the improper 
conduct of a favorite son — a son on whom 
they had bestowed many advantages, and of 
whom they had indulged fond anticipations — 
and their hearts are sad within them. All feel 
the blow, but it falls heaviest on the mother. 
"My poor wife" — it is the language of the 
husband and father — "my poor wife never 
slept a wink the first night after the intelli- 
gence reached us." 

This is a sorrowful tale, too sorrowful to be 
dwelt upon without tears, and yet where can 
you find any considerable group of families, 
which does not furnish material for a tale 
equally sorrowful. No strange thing has hap- 
pened in that particular domestic circle. The 
sobs which were heard under the roof are often 
heard elsewhere. It is affecting to mark how 
much of the grief to be met with in our dis- 
ordered world, has its origin in the bad beha- 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 31 

vior of some misguided son, who refuses to 
hearken to the instructions of his father, and 
forsakes the law of his mother. The enemy 
of God and man never shoots an arrow which 
pierces more deeply, or makes a sorer wound. 
Every sort of trouble seems conjoined here; 
and if you will only dam off this single stream, 
you will turn away a bitter tide from many a 
peaceful dwelling. 

Say not, in the words of a man who imagined 
himself to be better than he was, "What! is 
thy servant a dog that he should do this 
thing ?" Feel not indignant at the suggestion 
of a possibility, that you may be left to pursue 
a course which shall fill the home of your child- 
hood and early days with lamentation and woe. 
This is being strong in your own strength, and 
trusting to your own hearts. Dream not that 
your mountain stands so strong that you can 
never be moved. Avenues leading off from 
the right path open on every side, and none 
are more exposed than those who think of no 
peril, and are impatient at such words of cau- 
tion and counsel as may be addressed to them. 
It is here that the maxim, "to be forewarned 



32 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

is to be forearmed," has its fullest applica- 
tion. 

1. You are in danger from yourselves. 

This may seem strange language, but the 
longer you live, the more deeply will you be 
convinced of its truth. One of the most obvi- 
ous effects of the original apostasy was, to sub- 
vert man's government over his own heart, and 
undermine his power of self-control. By this 
fatal step, he not only broke those bonds in 
sunder which bound him in holy and happy 
•allegiance to his Maker, but he subverted all 
ihe laws of his own moral constitution. From 
that moment passion obtained the ascendency 
over reason, and impulse over principle. So 
disloyal did his feelings become to his better 
judgment, that he needs now to be restored to 
himself, almost as much as to his God. Both 
of these changes, the one scarcely less than the 
other, are effected by true conversion. 

Young men are necessarily inexperienced. 
The road they have to travel is to them a new 
road. It is their lot to be encompassed with 
difficulties with which they can have no pre- 
vious acquaintance, and to mingle in scenes 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 33 

with which they are not familiar. Everything 
is novel, and because of its novelty it affects 
them all the more deeply, for good or evil. 
Parents may tremble for their safety, and 
friends may be anxious lest they should be 
led astray; but they are likely to feel little 
solicitude on their own account. Warnings 
are not heeded, because they are not seen to 
be applicable. Advice is not taken, because 
it is not felt to be appropriate. So skilfully is 
the hook baited, that the first intimation of its 
being a hook is found in the pricking of the 
barb. Some fatal step is taken, ere the person 
suspects the presence of danger. The homely 
adage, " they that know nothing fear nothing," 
finds its illustration in thousands who set out 
with warm hearts and high hopes. 

Could you realize, at the beginning of your 
journey, that you are to pass through an en- 
emy's country, where foes lurk behind every 
bush and conceal themselves under the corner 
of every jutting rock, you would be on your 
guard. It could hardly fail to make you 
watchful, to be assured that a snare was con- 
cealed on one side of your path, and a pit on 



34 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

the other. Any proper appreciation of your 
danger would send you to the mercy-seat with 
an importunity that would take no denial, and 
clothe your sense of peril in the prayer, " My 
Father, be thou the guide of my youth." But 
thousands learn too late, that " strait is the 
gate and narrow is the way which leadeth 
unto life." 

I cannot but fear for inexperienced youth, 
sent abroad into a world all inviting in its 
promises, but all deceitful in its performances. 
Could they know beforehand what perils beset 
the way, how they must encounter a dulcet 
song at one corner, and a hoarse menace at 
another, with what false hopes they will be 
assailed to-day, and with what discourage- 
ments to-morrow; we should not see them 
bounding forth with such wild and heedless 
alacrity. A tithe of the real danger, antici- 
pated at the beginning, could not fail to impart 
a degree of sobriety to the most careless. 

Not a few young men are so yielding in their 
temper, as to be in perpetual danger. Having 
no fixed principles, it is hard for them to resist 
temptation, come from what quarter and in 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 35 

what form it may. So long as a father's eye 
is upon them, or a mother's voice is sounding 
in their ears, there is something to hold them 
up. But let them be separated from all such 
influences and associations, and be brought 
into a condition, when, under God, they can 
be steadfast only as the result of inward recti- 
tude and self-sustaining power, and they feel at 
once that the bark has not sufficient ballast for 
so rough a sea. Like Eeuben, they are " un- 
stable as water;" and no wonder if, like him, 
they never excel. 

It is not obstinacy that I recommend, or that 
sort of dogged adherence to one's own opinions, 
which shuts the eyes upon every opposing rea- 
son, however clear and strong. This is a very 
unhappy trait of character, especially in the 
young. But be careful in avoiding "Scylla," 
not to fall into " Charybdis." The young man 
who commences life with such an irresolute 
heart, as not to be able to reject decidedly any 
proposal to do wrong, has a source of danger 
in himself which will be almost sure to work 
his overthrow. A rough refusal is incompara- 
bly better than a reluctant compliance. 



36 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

That kind of easy good-nature, which can 
never nerve itself sufficiently to put a decided 
negative upon any proposal, however injuri- 
ous, is a most dangerous possession. It is no 
exaggeration to say, that the history of thou- 
sands of ruined youth, the untimely graves of 
thousands of broken-hearted parents, and the 
heavy woes of thousands of dishonored fami- 
lies, all join their solemn attestations to the 
evils which spring from that sort of pliant, ac- 
commodating disposition, which is hurt to pro- 
nounce the monosyllable — no. Such a one is 
led like an ox to the slaughter, and like a fool 
to the correction of the stocks. If invited to 
take a glass with the merry, sit down at the 
table of the gambler, or profane the Sabbath 
with the impious, you can foretell what will 
be the result. There is no interior strength to 
rely upon. No falling back upon principle 
and duty. 

Young men are often overweeningly self* 
confident Too wise to be taught, and too se- 
cure to need caution, it is no matter of sur* 
prise if they speedily make shipwreck of faith 
and a good conscience. We are not sur- 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 37 

prised at the mistakes they make, when we 
see how impatient they are of control, and 
how confidently they rely upon their own wis- 
dom and prudence. Glad that the hour has 
come, which allows them more liberty than 
they once enjoyed, they begin to put on an air 
of importance, and to act as if nobody's judg- 
ment of men and things was so good as their 
own. But this, be assured, is an unfailing 
prognostic of evil. Even had we never read 
in the Scriptures that " pride goeth before de- 
struction, and a haughty spirit before a fall," 
we should feel assured that such a state of 
mind must be a bar to everything like real 
respectability or permanent success. Nobody 
loves pomposity and self-inflation in others. 
Much as genuine modesty and unaffected dif- 
fidence may be at a discount, in an age when 
learners think themselves better than teachers, 
this is not the road to eminence in any one line 
of life. 

When I see a youth, no matter what his tal- 
ents or fortune, impatient of the counsels of 
experience, and disposed to lean to his own 
understanding, I always fear for the result. 

4 



38 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

One thing is certain ; before such, an one is 
prepared for anything great and good in the 
world, he has many a hard lesson to learn; 
and the sooner he begins to learn these lessons 
the better. Previous to his being fitted for 
any post of trust and respectability, he must 
have the stern teaching of bitter rebuffs and 
cruel disappointments. 

We have the highest authority for saying, 
"he that trusteth to his own heart is a fool." 
Let the young judge as they may ; the sober 
good sense of the world at large will join its 
verdict in favor of suffering days to speak, and 
multitude of years to teach wisdom. It will 
still be considered fit and proper to pay some 
deference to the opinions of hoary hairs, and 
not to reject the advice of old men. 

Now pause for a moment, and look at the 
dangers to which you are exposed, arising di- 
rectly from yourselves. That moral derange- 
ment which we call depravity, finds an occasion 
for its working and an outlet for its influence, 
m your lack of acquaintance with the ways of 
the world, in your want of firmness to reject 
the approach of temptation, and your proneness 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 39 

to rely unduly on your own resources. But 
this is not all. 

- 2. You are in danger from the circumstances 
in which you are placed. 

What is defective and wrong within is ag- 
gravated by what is bad and injurious with- 
out. It is the meeting of these two streams, 
the one internal and the other external, that 
causes the banks to overflow, and spreads dev- 
astation among the fairest fields and gardens 
of human life. As there must be both fire and 
powder to produce a flash, so the heart must be 
acted upon by the world, in order that its cor- 
ruptions may be manifested. Take away either, 
and so far as visible result is concerned, the 
other would be harmless ; but let both come 
together, and an explosion must ensue. Let 
me name a few of the perils to which you are 
exposed from the circumstances which sur- 
round you. 

Many young men have no hind friend at 
hand to take an interest in their welfare. No- 
body, from one week to another, or one month 
to another, drops a word of either caution or 
encouragement in their ears. If the clerk is 



40 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

in his place at the appointed time, and the ap- 
prentice fulfils his allotted task, and the stu- 
dent masters his assigned lesson, nothing fur- 
ther is inquired. From the very necessity of 
the case, they are sundered from the refining, 
soothing, and elevating influence of the domes- 
tic circle. It is their hard lot to be separated 
from home, at the very time when they most 
need its scenes and associations. Who is to 
look after them, all buoyant and full of life as 
they are; to watch where they spend their 
evenings, and what resources for amusement 
or pleasure are within their reach ? Who is to 
inquire after their Sabbaths, their church, and 
their minister ? 

It is enough to make one's heart bleed to 
see multitudes of ardent, aspiring youth cast 
upon the world, with its ten thousand allure- 
ments and snares, in a state, so far as any real 
affection or friendship is concerned, of com- 
plete orphanage. Ah ! what is to hold them 
back from evil! How are they to be kept 
from the paths of the destroyer ? If God in- 
terpose not, it would seem as if they must in- 
evitably perish. 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 41 

No one can think of the circumstances in 
which young men are generally placed, with- 
out concern. During much of that pregnant 
interval, which lies between the ages of fifteen 
and twenty-one, most of them are so situated 
that they can seldom hear a father's prayer, or 
listen to a mother's counsels, or witness a sis- 
ter's smiles. Oh I is it any marvel under such 
circumstances, if they should now and then 
find the way to the theatre, the grog-shop, or 
the dwelling of infamy ? One faithful friend 
at this juncture might save them from ruin. 
Were I to offer a prayer for you, beloved 
youth, as you pack your trunk, and start for 
the city of business or the seat of learning, to 
spend there five or seven years in almost en- 
tire separation from the joys of home, it would 
be to ask that, next to the guardianship of 
the Watchman of Israel, you might never want 
at least one wise, kind, faithful friend, to whis- 
per to you words of reproof or consolation, as 
the case should be. This would relieve mv 
anxieties, as nothing else would, short of real, 
living, Christian principle, ruling the heart 
and controlling the conduct. But the evil is 

4* 



42 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

more than negative — it is positive and obtru- 
sive. 

Ten thousands of young men are surrounded 
by vicious and unprincipled associates. Besides 
having no one to take a real, outgoing interest 
in their welfare, they are thrown of necessity 
into a species of direct companionship, during 
the hours of toil and study — in the eating-room 
and dormitory, with those who have no fear of 
God before their eyes. This is a danger which 
they have to encounter at every onward step. 
Feel as they may, contact with evil it is impos- 
sible to avoid. If they walk the streets of the 
city, or tread the floors of the hall, it is to see 
sights, and hear sounds, and be subjected to 
influences, all of which, gradually and imper- 
ceptibly, but surely and permanently, are 
drawing the lines of deformity on their 
hearts. This is the grand peril which alarms 
the pious parent, and wakes him up to 
pray in the silence of the night, when he 
thinks of placing a son in school, sending him 
to college, or locating him in one of our towns 
for purposes of trade. No wonder that the 
father cries out, " God bless and keep our dear 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. " 43 

son!" No wonder that the mother betakes 
herself to her closet, and begs God to take care 
of her darling boy. 

In multitudes of cases, it seems really almost 
a miracle if they do escape. The heart is in- 
clined to evil of itself, irrespective of any ex- 
ternal drawing ; and if this native tendency be 
aided, as it is too often, by the well-planned 
arts of the seducer, no wonder if ruin ensue. 
An unprincipled companion is often an unmit- 
igated curse. If the fruit do not appear very 
fully, at once, the seed is sown, and sooner or 
later we may expect a harvest. 

Alas ! how often have I «known youth, who, 
only a short time before, left the paternal roof 
amiable in their dispositions and pure in their 
morals, soon turn into ringleaders of vice, and 
from being tempted become tempters them- 
selves. We look around with astonishment at 
such downfalls, and inquire what enemy hath 
done this. But should we ferret out the mat- 
ter, it would generally be found, that the dread- 
ful evil could be traced to the skepticism, the 
tippling habits, or the licentiousness of some 
pleasant, jovial companion. 



44 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Then, to add to the danger, boohs of a certain 
hind wee a fruitful source of injury to the young. 
Ours, we love to say, is a reading age ; and few 
are the parents who do not feel gratified to 
have their children imbibe a fondness for this 
employment. But we should make a great 
blunder, if we conclude that all must be well 
because they subscribe for a magazine, and are 
often seen with a book in their hands. What 
tales of crime in its worst possible form have 
been told, within a few years, in some of the 
high places of our own land, as the known and 
recognized result of pernicious reading ! Again 
and again have both adultery and blood been 
traced to this single source. As it regards the 
books with which the country is fairly inun- 
dated, it may well be said, " all is not gold 
that glitters.' 7 If one contains the bread of 
life, another is filled with deadly poison. To 
say the least, there is a kind of sickly senti- 
mentalism pervading many of the fashionable 
volumes of the day, which scarcely less really 
unfits the reader for the duties of earth, than 
for intercourse with heaven. " Such reading," 
as Hannah More well remarks, "relaxes the 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 45 

mind which needs hardening, dissolves the 
heart which needs fortifying, stirs the imagi- 
nation which needs quieting, irritates the pas- 
sions which need calming, and, above all, dis- 
inclines and disqualifies for active virtues and 
spiritual exercises." Young men must take 
heed what they read, as well as how they hear. 
The eye is as fruitful an inlet of evil as the ear. 

It is my deliberate opinion, that thoughtful, 
studious youth are exposed to few greater perils 
than are to be found in books. So fully am I 
convinced of this, that I could see a large ma- 
jority of all the publications which come in 
such crowds from the press, consigned to one 
enormous conflagration, without a lingering 
regret. The ability to read and the love of 
reading, like a thousand other things good in 
themselves, have their attendant evils. A bad 
book must exert a bad influence, and the more 
touching it is in incident, and the more capti- 
vating in style, the worse of necessity this in- 
fluence will be. 

The heaviest censures upon such works have 
fallen sometimes from the authors themselves. 
Goldsmith, though a very popular novelist and 



46 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

writer of plays, gave this advice in respect to 
the education of a nephew : " Above all things, 
never let him touch a novel or romance." 
Moore had good sense and right feeling enough 
to keep his voluptuous lines from his own 
daughters, though not enough to prevent his 
sending them abroad into the world. It is 
affirmed too of a celebrated tragedian, that he 
never allowed his children to see the inside of 
a theatre. There is meaning in such opinions, 
coming from such men. 

Such are the circumstances, my young 
friends, in which you are placed, and it is idle 
to complain of them. The present state would 
be no probation to you, if you were already so 
confirmed in good principles, and so free from 
temptations, as to have nothing to fear either 
from yourselves or the position you occupy. 
That is the highest virtue that consists in over- 
coming the blandishments of vice. No crown 
is so bright as that which the victor will wear. 
Instead then of unavailing regrets at trials, 
arise whence they will, and come as they may, 
be it your determination by the help of God to 
surmount them all. 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 47 

Deem it not unkind that I take so much 
pains to apprize you of your perils. If they 
exist, it is important that you should know 
them. The difference between being con- 
scious of danger, and unconscious of it, is like 
that between two travellers passing over the 
same rough road, one of whom has his eyes 
open, and the other has his eyes shut. Both 
may stumble. Both may fall ; but the advan- 
tage is immensely on the side of him who looks 
at the obstacles which lie in his way. 

Yes, you are in danger, in clanger from in- 
ward corruption and outward temptation ; in 
danger from your own native bias to evil, and 
from the traps which are set for your feet; 
and it is proper for me to raise the voice of 
alarm. I believe in the doctrine of human 
depravity — I know what the Bible says of the 
difficulty of leading a good life — I have been 
over the ground which you now occupy ; and 
to me it is no marvel that ministers, teachers, 
friends and parents all unite in asking for you 
the preserving mercy and the sanctifying grace 
of God. There is reason for this solicitude. It 
is not without a cause. 



48 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

I do not charge it upon you as a fault, that 
you are inexperienced. I do not blame you 
in all cases for working in the same room with 
the base, the dissipated and the profane. I do 
not mention it as a crime that bad books are 
sometimes put in your way. These things are 
a part of your allotment. They are difficulties 
which you cannot always avoid. But what 
will you do ? My heart yearns over you. 
And I long to see you betaking yourselves to 
the only sure and unfailing protection. Ask 
God for Christ's sake to watch over and bless 
you. Seek for help in the might of his out- 
stretched arm. 

But trying as your case may be, let me beg 
fou to guard against despondency. This will 
give you over at once into the power of the 
destroyer. I would say to the student sad and 
downcast over his books, to the clerk jaded 
and worn by his oft-repeated duty, and to the 
apprentice exhausted by his monotonous task, 
Be not disheartened. Though you have no 
father's fireside to return to, when the long 
day's service is over, and no kind sister to 
throw her arms around you and kiss away 



YOUNG MEN IN DANGER. 49 

3 r our griefs, and no circle of sympathizing 
friends to whom you may tell your trou- 
bles — despair not, A brighter morning will 
yet arrive. " Patient continuance in well-do- 
ing" will lead to " glory, and honor, and eter- 
nal life." " Heart within and God overhead," 
and you have nothing to fear. You will work 
for yourselves a way to the esteem of the wise 
and good, and secure a name and place in the 
earth. 

There is in God as revealed in the Gospel, 
in Christ as exhibited in his own life, death 
and sacrifice, in the Spirit as a Comforter and 
a guide, in the Bible as a light to them that sit 
in darkness, and in the prospect of a blissful 
immortality, held out to such as endure to the 
end, all the strength which you need to resist 
evil. Be steadfast in the hour of trial, and 
you will gain at last a crown which will never 

fade away. 

5 



CHAPTER III. 

THE POWER OF HABIT. 

You all know the meaning of the w r ord 
habit. When we say of a young man, that he 
is habitually studious, amiable, and respectful, 
or that he is habitually indolent, negligent and 
morose, everybody understands us. No lan- 
guage could be more explicit. 

Nor need I say that you will probably be 
for time and eternity what your habits make 
you. " Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or 
the leopard his spots ? Then may ye also do 
good who are accustomed to do evil." Form 
correct and virtuous habits, and a light sweet 
as the morning dawn may be expected to gild 
all your future pathway ; but let your habits 
be vicious and depraved, and a cloud darker 
than midnight will settle on your prospects 
forever. 



THE POWER OF HABIT. 51 

To you this is a topic of vast moment. 
Your principles and practices are now just 
beginning to take root, and should they grow 
into habits, you will be likely to carry them to 
the grave with you. A volume might be 
written on the power of habit, but I must con- 
tent myself with suggesting a few thoughts. 

1. Let us inquire into the formation of habits. 

This is a gradual work, an advancing pro- 
cess, in which the preceding steps always in- 
fluence those that succeed. A habit is formed 
by the recurrence again and again of the same 
internal, or the same external acts. Such is 
human nature, that no one settles down sud- 
denly into fixed opinions, or an established 
way of life. Men may do wrong, and they 
may do right, they may exhibit a holy temper 
or a sinful one, in a moment; but the habit is 
induced by repetition. It takes time for a 
person to become so accustomed to a given 
course, as to be easy and happy in such a 
course. Neither occasional good deeds, nor 
occasional bad deeds constitute character, or 
form what in common language we denomi- 
nate habit. 



52 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

You will do well to treasure these thoughts 
in your fninds. Never forget that any one act 
performed, or any one feeling indulged, necessa- 
rily prepares the way for other acts and feel- 
ings of the same kind. This remark is equally 
true, whether applied to mental or manual 
pursuits; to the movements of the body, or 
the operations of the mind. A single glass of 
wine may be the beginning of a habit which 
shall lead to intoxication, and a single vindic- 
tive feeling may be the precursor of a train of 
feelings which shall lead to murder. What we 
do once we more readily and naturally do a 
second time, and to go on in a certain path, be 
it reputable or disreputable, is more easy than 
to start. Such is the connection of things, as 
constituted by God himself, and no one can 
disregard it with impunity. If life is to be 
spent in the practice of piety, special care and 
effort will be required at the outset ; and if it 
is to be clouded with vice, the farther a person 
goes the more rapid will be his descent. The 
hindrances in the first case, and the restraints 
in the second, invariably lose their power as 
progress is made. 



THE POWER OF HABIT. 53 

Let it be noted here, that right feelings are 
more to be considered, often, than correct do- 
ings. For example, humility is less an overt 
act of self-denial, or any number of such acts, 
than a habit of watching against the indul- 
gence of pride. Of meekness also we may say 
it is not so much an ostensible deed standing 
prominently forth, as it is a state of mind con- 
trary to anger and resentment. The same ob- 
servation may be made of a habit of sobriety, 
a habit of self-control, a habit of application, a 
habit of patience, or a habit of kindness. These 
virtues are all best reached, by simply keeping 
aloof from the opposing vices ; not to do evil is 
often to do well. 

But remember that bad habits are more 
easily formed than good ones, and are given 
up with more difficulty. The native depravity 
of the heart accounts for this well-known fact 
— a depravity which inheres in man and op- 
erates with a force which none can fully esti- 
mate. It is for this reason that far less time 
and pains are requisite to corrupt an unwary 
youth, than to engraft upon his character the 
enduring habits of righteousness and truth. 

5* 



54 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Men are self-indulgent and covetous, revenge- 
ful and proud, naturally and spontaneously, 
without example or teaching. In the present 
fallen state, wrong and misery are the result 
of giving up things to their own native ten- 
dencies. In the natural world, you have only 
to leave a field to itself, and you will see it 
covered with briers and thorns; but if you 
would have it filled with beautiful and waving 
wheat, you must apply care and toil. It is easy 
to float down the stream, but to resist the cur- 
rent and reach the fountain requires effort. 

Such statements are full of instruction, and 
you will do well to think them over again and 
again. There are but few things which it more 
concerns you to understand than the way in 
which habits are formed, so as to become a part 
of one's abiding character. The value of sound 
principles — firm, unwavering, truth evincing 
principles — can never be over-estimated, and 
no efforts to make them yours can be too great. 
They are as necessary to the development of 
a good and useful character, as the circulation 
of the blood in the body, or the rising of the 
Bap in a tree. 



THE POWER OF HABIT. 55 

2. We shall do well to consider the amazing 
strength of habit. 

Use is said to be a second nature. "What a 
man gets accustomed to, let its influence be 
good or bad, he finds it yery difficult to aban- 
don. We can bend or twist a twig to whatever 
shape we please, but let that twig become a 
tree, and it requires the force of a whirlwind 
to uproot it. It is one thing for a child to form 
the habit of prayer and reading the Scriptures, 
and quite another thing for the man of gray 
hairs to do so. The son may keep from the 
inebriating cup; but no one can tell what 
dreadful struggles it will cost his father to dash 
it to the ground. 

Few are thoroughly aware of the controlling 
power of habit. It is possible to superinduce 
upon the beasts of the field, and the fowls of 
the air, habits entirely foreign to their nature ; 
and yet these habits when thus superinduced 
can scarcely be broken. The process is tedious, 
before a lion and tiger can be made to har- 
monize in the same cage, or a dove l)e taught 
to live on flesh. But it can be done, and 
done so completely that what was previously 



56 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

strange and unnatural, becomes by habit a 
part as it were of their very being. The 
novice in the use of narcotic weeds, must lay 
his account with nausea, headache, and lan- 
guor ; but let indulgence grow into a habit, and 
he finds it almost like parting with life itself, to 
break it off. As often as the hour returns, be 
it morning or noon, or night, the appetite is 
aroused and demands gratification. There is 
something within, which like the horseleech 
cries, give, give. The demand becomes im- 
perative beyond that for daily food. 

Could you see this matter in its true light, 
you would tremble at the thought of being ad- 
dicted to a bad habit. Why the doing of a 
particular act, especially when it is so unpleas- 
ant at first, should beget a disposition to repeat 
it and even render it agreeable, we need not 
inquire. It is sufficient for all practical and 
useful purposes, to know that such is unques- 
tionably the fact. It is in recognition of this 
general and uniform law of the human consti- 
tution, that the Bible utters its most energet- 
ic warnings and gives forth its loudest notes 
of alarm. " Sudden destruction, n "destruc- 



THE POWER OP HABIT. 57 

tion without remedy 77 is to come upon such as 
have acquired the habit of hardening their 
necks in the midst of reproof An old man's 
bones are represented as being "full of the 
sins of his youth, which shall lie down with 
him in the dust.' 7 

If examples of the iron force of habit are 
called for, we have them in abundance. All 
are aware what adamantine chains encircle the 
man, who has unhappily become accustomed 
to the stimulating influence of intoxicating 
drinks. It was not always with him, as it is 
now. At first he took a glass not to appear 
singular, or to nerve his arm for his daily task, 
or to help him bear some local pain, or drive 
away a cloud of trouble. There was then no 
love of intoxicating drink for its own sake. 
But soon drinking became a habit ; and how 
strong the habit, let broken-hearted parents, a 
weeping wife and children, and an undone 
eternity reveal. Eesistance seems out of the 
question. " If, 77 said such a one, " a tumbler 
stood before me, and I knew that endless mis- 
ery must be the consequence of drinking it, I 
could not refrain. 77 Equally overpowering 



58 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE, 

perhaps is the habit of gambling. Tales suffi- 
cient, one would think, to melt any heart not 
made of rock, are told of the effects of this 
vice, on character, fortune and domestic peace ; 
and yet its thraldom is unbroken. To give a 
single case : A man in one of our large cities 
had become opulent, and had his noble mansion 
and splendid equipage, the unrighteous avails 
of the gaming table. For a time, all appeared 
well. But at length he met with a villain 
more adroit than himself, played deeply, and 
was unsuccessful. With a heavy heart he went 
home, and was found the next morning, hang- 
ing to one of the timbers of his own chamber, 
a blackened and frightful corpse. 

These, beloved youth, are awful illustrations, 
but they are not of unusual occurrence. Mark 
how the habit of falsehood grows upon a man, 
until from simple exaggeration in little things, 
he comes to be so notorious a liar that his word 
is not worth a rush. One may be long in 
reaching this sad eminence; but when it is 
reached, all is lost. The plainest truths pass- 
ing through such a man's lips, are almost as 
surely falsified, as rays of light passing through 



THE POWER OF HABIT. 59 

water are refracted. Much the same thing 
may be said of theft and profaneness, Sab- 
bath-breaking and infidelity. When the habit 
of these vices is formed, it is a miracle of mercy 
if they are ever abandoned. 

Yet, blessed be God, there is a. bright side 
to this picture. If bad habits acquire at length 
a giant hold upon the mind and heart, it is en- 
couraging that there is some degree at least of 
the same force in good ones. Men do not 
easily turn aside, after walking for years in 
the right path. "Oh>" said a profligate de- 
scendant of pious ancestors, upon retiring after 
an evening of jest and merriment, "I wish I 
could forget the prayers which my mother 
taught me." You may all recollect the con- 
fession of the late John Eandolph of Eoanoke. 
" I should have been a French atheist, had it 
not been that my mother used to call me to 
her, when a little boy, to repeat the Lord's 
prayer. 7 ' This saved him from the vortex. 

Such facts are instructive to parents, but 
they make a special demand upon the atten- 
tion of youth. You, who are now in the 
bloom of life, are every day weaving for your- 



60 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

selves a web of habits, and when formed, it 
will have strength beyond all your power to 
break it. Conld yon see this subject in its true 
light, how carefully would you avoid the very 
first fatal step ! Be careless, be indolent, be 
skeptical, be irreligious, be intemperate now, 
and you will find where you are, and what 
you are, when recovery is hopeless. Or be 
early thoughtful, sober-minded and pious, and 
you will lay up for time to come, blessings un- 
told. " All the paths of the Lord are mercy 
and truth to such as walk in them." 

3. Mark for a moment the effects which habit 
produces. 

These are apparent every day, and not to 
take them into account is unwise indeed. 
Break up a man's habits, even by improving 
what you call his comforts, and you often 
make him miserable. It is usually no kind- 
ness to the aged, to take them from their cot- 
tage, their frugal fare and their early meals, 
and place them in the mansions and surround 
them with the ceremonies of fashionable life. 
Changes of this sort, make them with whatever 
kind intentions you please, are irksome, and 



THE POWER OF HABIT. 61 

seldom fail to produce discontent. Men who 
have become opulent by habits of strict atten- 
tion to business, always perhaps run some risk 
when they retire from the throng and bustle 
of life. The quiet and the shade of the coun- 
try cannot keep the thoughts away from the 
counting-room and the exchange. 

Be careful then to start aright, and after- 
wards be satisfied to keep quietly on in the 
path of rectitude. Once learn to master the 
difficulties of your allotment, to resist the 
temptations that lie in your path, and to rise 
superior to the ridicule of the world, and you 
will, almost as a matter of course, find your 
bosom filled with happy emotions. The chief 
struggle is at the outset. The individual who 
rises early to his study or his trade, soon ac- 
quires a habit of looking out upon the beauties 
of the morning, which renders him cheerful 
and contented. Life to such a one has a 
brightness and buoyancy which the indolent 
and listless never enjoy. Even duties that are 
at first trying and difficult, become such sources 
of real pleasure, that we often hear the laborer 
singing merrily . at his anvil and the loom. 

6 



62 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Only be sure that the course is right and just, 
and as soon as it becomes habitual it will pro- 
duce positive enjoyment. God thus intermin- 
gles comforts with the trials, crosses and bur- 
dens of life, and so arranges things, as one 
happily says, that the purest water is filtered 
through charcoal. 

I can scarcely be too earnest in impressing 
these thoughts on your attention. If consid- 
erate and observing at all, you cannot help 
seeing how habits of order and temperance and 
industry, promote health, peace of mind, and 
prosperity. Not only is the noonday of such 
a morning warm and genial, but its evening- 
tide is calm and serene. It is pleasant to 
mark the fresh countenance, the firm step, and 
the green old age of one, whose habits of sleep, 
labor, food and recreation have all been good. 
A bright and cheerful light is almost sure to 
shine upon such a path to its very close. 
What a contrast this to the haggard looks and 
trembling limbs of the man, whose bad habits 
have fixed a brand upon him which he must 
carry to the grave ! Do what he may after- 



THE POWER OF HABIT. 63 

wards, traces of the old evil will remain and 
stick to him till the end. 

Good habits are everything to a young man. 
Point me to a boy in the community, who is 
growing up thoughtful, industrious, and dis- 
creet, no matter how humble his circumstances, 
and I venture to predict that his future course 
in the world will be useful and honorable. 
Eare indeed are the instances in which such a 
one is beguiled in later life from the paths of 
uprightness. The good habits he has formed, 
in addition to their own intrinsic power, will 
be sure to draw around him a thousand kindly 
influences, all strengthening the bonds of vir- 
tue. But what can be anticipated for an idle, 
intemperate, disorderly young man ? In some 
lucid moment of after-life, he may resolve upon 
reformation ; but his habits, like so many ropes 
of hemp, fasten him to the ways in which he 
has long been walking. It seems impossible 
for him now to be anything different from 
what he has been. 

The mind, too, suffers from bad habits as well 
as the body. Let a person once lose his deli- 
cacy of feeling, and a wound is inflicted which 



64 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

many a day of sorrow cannot heal. The bad 
book that he allows himself to read, the obscene 
talk in which he indulges, and the impure ob- 
jects on which he fastens his thoughts, will be 
sure to make blots hard to be effaced. Even 
true repentance has no power to wash away 
the stain. Eegret it as he may, the unhallowed 
imaginations once loved and cherished will not 
now depart at his bidding. 

Hear what strong and emphatic language the 
celebrated Lord Brougham uses on this point : 
11 1 trust everything under God to habit, upon 
which in all ages the Lawgiver as well as the 
Schoolmaster has mainly to place his reliance. 
It is habit which makes every duty easy, and 
casts the difficulties upon a deviation from the 
wonted course. Make sobriety a habit, and 
intemperance will be hateful. Make prudence 
a habit, and prodigality will seem like a crime. 
Make honesty a habit, and fraud will be ab- 
horred. Give a child the habit of sacredly re- 
garding truth, and he will as soon think of 
rushing into an element, where he cannot 
breathe, as of telling a falsehood." These are 
broad declarations, and yet they are evidently 



THE POWER OF HABIT. 65 

founded on a deep acquaintance with human 
nature. 

May I not hope then that you will lay all 
this seriously to heart. There are instances, 
blessed be God, in which the idle become in- 
dustrious, the drunkard abandons his cups, the 
swearer learns to fear an oath, and the disso- 
lute embrace a life of purity. Nothing is too 
hard for the Lord. But these cases are so rare 
as not to be expected in the ordinary course 
of Providence. What you desire to be, five, 
ten, twenty, or forty years hence, that strive to 
be and pray to be at once. Pluck up the 
shrub before it grows into a tree. Check the 
disease ere it seize upon the vitals. Meet the 
enemy on the borders, and suffer him not to 
penetrate the country. 

If you would ever love the Bible, begin to 
read it carefully and prayerfully now. If you 
would ever put your trust in Christ, begin to 
study the beauties of the cross now. If you 
would ever live a holy life, begin to fear and 
obey God now. Now you have a tablet of 
wax on which to inscribe characters of loveli- 
ness, and peace and salvation. A few years 

6* 



66 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

hence this wax will be granite. Be chaste like 
Joseph, be meek like Moses, be temperate like 
Daniel, and the habit will remain till your heads 
are laid on their last pillow. Trials will come, 
when we shall see what you are, and what you 
will do. It is a storm that gives a sight of the 
depths of the sea ; and it is a season of tempta- 
tion, that gives us a glimpse of one's real char- 
acter. 

Go out into the world with bad habits, and 
I tremble for the result. "With good habits, 
and God's blessing, you will be safe every- 
where, in city or country, counting-house or 
mechanic's shop, student's room or clerk's of- 
fice. 



CHAPTER IV. 

COMPAN Y 1 TS INFLUENCE. 

Some one remarked to the celebrated John 
Wesley, as he was entering upon his religious 
course, " You must either find companions, or 
make them." This is true of every one. It is 
not good for man to be alone. Even the bliss 
of Paradise was not deemed complete, until 
Adam had a companion to unite with him in 
his labors, and share with him his joys. 

This is a law of our nature, operating upon 
all, but felt with most force in early life. 
Young people are formed for intercourse and 
companionship. It would make them wretch- 
ed to immure them in a hermit's cell. But 
just in proportion to the strength with which 
their feelings fasten upon those whom they call 
their friends, will be the power of these friends 
to be either a blessing or a curse to them. 



68 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Scarcely anything else is so pregnant of weal 
or woe. Solomon has said, u He that walketh 
with wise men shall be wise, but a companion 
of fools shall be destroyed. 7 ' 

You will have associates, and you will feel 
their influence. The link is mysterious which 
binds human beings together, so that the heart 
of one answers to the heart of another, like the 
return of an echo ; but such a link exists. 
There seems to be a sort of welding process, by 
which the feelings and principles of two indi- 
viduals, before entire strangers, are soon re- 
duced to a complete identity. One catches the 
spirit, and copies the manner of the other, so 
that in a short time the same character belongs 
to both. Wax does not more certainly retain 
the figure of the seal, than does the mind retain 
the impression produced by intercourse and 
association. The influence is often silent and 
unperceived, like the rolling in of a wave in a 
quiet sea ; but like that same wave it is mighty 
and resistless. 

On the one hand, make wise and good men 
your chosen companions, and you put your- 
selves in the direct way of becoming wise and 



COMPANY-ITS INFLUENCE. 69 

good. Intimacies of this sort are invaluable 
in the formation of character. A net- work of 
virtuous associations will thus be woven around 
you, through which you will find it difficult to 
break, even should you desire so to do. The 
operation is secret and imperceptible, but the 
effects are striking. Could we only persuade 
the youth among ns to mix with the pure, the 
considerate, and the amiable, they would feel 
the happy influence. Strongly inclined to evil 
as is the heart of man, this seldom or never 
fails to be a check. Let them once become 
the companions of such as fear the Lord, and 
they will rarely be found disbelieving his word 
and profaning his name, or trampling his Sab- 
bath in the dust. The power of a truly con- 
sistent example, bad as the world is, is immense. 
Even when it does not reach so far as to be 
saving, it proves salutary ; and when it does 
not prevent eventual ruin, it has the effect of 
putting far off the evil day. 

But, on the other hand ; become the associate 
of men of bad principles and practices, and you 
are in clanger of walking in the same path. 
Example, always influential, is peculiarly so, 



70 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

when it sets in the wrong direction. The reason 
is that in every such case the depraved model 
finds something in the bosom congenial to it- 
self, and the wicked pattern finds its corres- 
pondence in the existing state of the heart. On 
this account it is, that a single improper inti- 
macy often works the most fatal results. All 
that parents, teachers, and pious friends have 
been doing for years, disappears as the refresh- 
ing dew before the rising sun. Associate with 
the vile, and you will most assuredly become 
vile. To " walk in the counsel of the un- 
godly," is the first step towards " standing in 
the place of sinners," and " sitting in the seat 
of the scornful." 

All this is well understood by those who 
have children to educate, or sons to send out 
into the world. There is always a sense of se- 
curity, when it is certain that the room-mate is 
studious and sober-minded, and the fellow- 
apprentice and clerk are steady and church- 
going. Men who have no real religion them- 
selves, are often desirous to place their sons 
and daughters in circumstances where God is 
honored, and the Bible is treated as a book 



COMPANY — ITS INFLUENCE. 71 

from heaven. This is a kind of homage, which 
truth and goodness exact of thousands whose 
hearts after all continue wedded to the paths 
of iniquity. 

Kemember, in this connection, that whatever 
is good or bad, lofty or degrading, virtuous or 
vicious, in the human bosom, will be most fully 
developed in society. Lot, no doubt, would have 
been a better man than he was, had he been 
surrounded with examples of piety, and Esau 
would have been a worse man than he was, 
had he lived in a wicked family. Encourage- 
ment is thus given to those who are struggling 
upward, and obstacles are put in the way of 
those who are going downward. No one, un- 
sustained by companionship and associates, ever 
rises to the fullest measure of excellence ; and 
no one, who is not urged on by others, ever 
sinks to the lowest depths of depravity. The 
pious are more decidedly pious, and the wicked 
are more decidedly wicked, as the result of 
union, concert, and co-operation. 

It is a well-ascertained fact, that a company 
of bad men will generally be more openly 
and boldly vile than any one of that com- 



72 THE SPRING-TIME OP LIFE. 

pany would dare to be alone. In this case, 
the first stimulates and draws on the second, 
the second the third, until the voice of con- 
science is drowned, and every feeling of shame 
is eradicated from the heart. If a person really 
wishes to rid himself of all virtuous restraint, 
he has only to go with the multitude to do evil, 
and the end is gained. In the confusion and 
bustle of noisy associates, sin has no such sting 
as it has in private. What opportunity is there 
here for those serious reflections and painful 
misgivings, which come thronging upon the 
mind in the stillness of the bed-chamber and 
the solitary walk. Instead of asking what God 
and conscience approve, the only question now 
is, What will gratify the company? If this 
point can be secured, there seems to be no 
thought of the remorse thus stored up for a 
sick chamber, or a dying bed. 

In a large majority of cases, pre-eminence in 
evil results from the abuse of that social prin- 
ciple, which God has implanted in our bosoms 
as a help to the development of piety. Where 
is it, let me ask, that the profane jest is uttered 
against the Scriptures, the Lord's-day, and the 



COMPANY — ITS INFLUENCE. 73 

ministry of the Sanctuary ? Under what cir- 
cumstances is it, that the song of the drunkard 
is heard, and the silence of midnight is dis- 
turbed by the mutterings and curses of the 
gambler ? How comes it to pass that here one 
and there another is enticed to the house of 
infamy and the purlieus of damnation ? These 
are not vices which spring up in retirement 
and are connected with thinking on one's ways. 
They have their origin in noise and bustle and 
excitement, and not in stillness or solitude. 
This is the point at which the road starts which 
leads to profaneness, intemperance, and de- 
bauchery. Festive seasons and days of mirth, 
afford a fruitful soil for the growth of sin. The 
mind is thus unbent ; pleasurable sensations 
are excited, and one gives countenance to an- 
other, until the most disgusting impiety and 
inebriation ensue. 

There is more of weight and importance in 
these truths than is always supposed. A soli- 
tary Deist or Universalist living in a neighbor- 
hood of consistent Christians, is not likely to 
hold his errors very firmly, or broach them 
with a very confident air. Infidelity is a plant 

7 



74 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

which does not thrive well in by-places or se- 
cluded spots. It grows up more rankly and 
bears its fruit more perfectly amidst the noise 
and smoke and fumes of the bar-room, and 
puts on its deepest hues while the exhilarating 
bowl is passing around. Who ever heard of 
a man's railing against the Bible, or the final 
doom of the wicked, in his solitary chamber ? 
Perhaps such a thing is sometimes done, but 
impiety like this loves publicity and show. 
Spiritual rappers would soon cease their rap- 
pings, if none were foolish enough to listen. 
Clairvoyants would not " mutter and peep" if 
there were none to hear. 

It is well, too, to remark that young men of 
amiable dispositions are often most in danger 
from bad company. Owing to that great 
catastrophe which so utterly deranged man's 
whole moral nature, some of those very traits 
of character which are denominated virtues, 
seem really to open the door to vice. This is 
but too true of thousands who are blessed with 
a soft, mild and yielding disposition. Like 
some plants, which change the color of their 
blossoms as often as you change the soil in 



COMPANY-ITS INFLUENCE. 75 

which they stand, these persons take their 
tone of feeling from surrounding circumstan- 
ces. While at home, where the Bible was 
read, prayer offered, the sanctuary visited and 
God worshipped, everything apparently went 
well with them. But after receiving the fare- 
well blessing of a kind father, and the parting 
embrace of a fond mother, new scenes soon 
opened and new impressions were made. 

We are pleased to see a soft and kindly tem- 
per in early life ; but it is not to be concealed 
that such a temper exposes one to peculiar 
peril. A person of such a disposition, usually 
lacks firmness and independence of character. 
Hence we frequently see him falling in with 
the opinions and practices of his companions, 
even in opposition to his own convictions of 
right and wrong. He has not internal strength 
to resist evil, provided it puts on an* inviting as- 
pect. Often is he drawn into fellowship with 
the wicked in scenes of dissipation and vice, 
simply because he has not the courage to re- 
sist. Sooner than turn his back upon some 
unprincipled associate, he will sacrifice con- 
science, peace of mind, and the favor of God. 



76 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Sad is it for such a one, when lie falls into the 
snares of those who, under a bland and spe- 
cious appearance, hide a heart of deadly oppo- 
sition to the ways of piety. The fly in the 
web of the spider, or the fish on the hook of 
the angler, is a fit emblem of a victim like this. 
Sir Matthew Hale, one of the most learned 
and upright judges who ever sat on the bench 
in England or any other country, came near 
being ruined in this very way. When quite 
young he was amiable and studious, and great 
hopes were entertained of his future eminence. 
But some strolling theatrical players came to 
the town where he lived, and he was induced 
by his own yielding disposition, to become a 
witness of their performances. This so com- 
pletely captivated his heart, that he lost all 
relish for study, and gave himself up to dissi- 
pated company. Happily, however, for his 
prospective usefulness and peace of mind, as 
he was one day surrounded by vile associates, 
it pleased God to put a stop to their folly, by 
smiting one of their number with a sudden dis- 
ease, which soon sent him to the grave. This 
broke the bonds which tied the heart of young 



COMPANY — ITS INFLUENCE. 77 

Hale to a life of dissipation, and drove liim to 
his closet, his Bible, and his God. 

Instances of the like wandering are common 
— alas that instances of like return are so few. 
Let one of an easy complying disposition, 
and with little fixedness of principle, come into 
contact with educated and refined iniquity, 
and the work of ruin is speedily done. The 
politeness of the exterior renders him unsus- 
picious of the sink of corruption within. At 
first he only listens, then he begins to imitate, 
and soon he goes as an "ox to the slaughter 
and as a fool to the correction of the stocks. 7 ' 

All this is confirmed by the fact, that young 
men are sure to be estimated by the character of 
their companions. Not only do a man's familiar 
friends exert an influence over him, but what 
is more, they constitute the sure and ready 
test by which others judge of his worth. 
There is an old proverb, and all experience 
verifies it ; " every man is known by the com- 
pany he keeps." On this account it is that 
shrewd and intelligent observers of human na- 
ture seldom put themselves to the trouble of 
looking any further in order to decide upon a 



78 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

person's reputation. Tell them where the 
clerk or apprentice spends his evenings, and 
with whom he takes his walks, and it is 
enough. Nothing would seem stranger to 
them than to look for a sober, considerate, 
trustworthy young man, in the midst of the 
idle, the profane, and the licentious. Never 
do they expect to find one that is temperate, 
industrious and correct, among a noisy, dissi- 
pated and drunken crew. So certain is it, 
that every individual will be what his com- 
panions are, in character, habits, and way of 
life, that in nine cases out of ten, no further 
testimony is required. 

The firmest reputation is a delicate plant, 
which will not bear the touch of violence, or 
the breath of pollution. Though it advance by 
slow and almost imperceptible degrees, it often, 
like the Prophet's gourd, withers in a night. 
It is possible for you to lose in an hour, what 
it costs years of care and circumspection to 
gain. A little want of consideration, a little 
forgetfulness of what is due to yourselves, a 
little yielding to the blandishments of vice, may 
inflict an injury never to be repaired. But 



COMPANY — ITS INFLUENCE. 79 

take another course. Seek the society of the 
good, cast in your lot among the virtuous and 
faithful, and your standing will become repu- 
table at once. Everybody will see that you 
respect yourselves, and this will secure the re- 
spect of others. 

I charge you, ponder well these remarks. 
If you are seen to associate freely with such as 
are known to have no respect for the Scrip- 
tures, and no reverence for the Sabbath, espe- 
cially if it should once come to be understood 
that you can cast in your lot with those who 
have gone so far in the ways of transgression 
as to glory in their shame, you must not deem 
it a hardship to be treated as if you sustained 
the very same character. This is perfectly 
natural and not at all to be complained of. 
You might as well visit a district infected with 
the plague, and expect to be welcomed at once 
to the bosom of families where health prevails ; 
as to associate with the workers of iniquity, and 
hope to pass along without having a mark 
fixed upon you, by men of every name and 
place. 

What a penalty to pay for going astray in 



80 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

this one particular ; and yet it must be paid, 
if the false step be taken. Such are the legiti- 
mate fruits of intimacies formed without regard 
to the high interests of morality and virtue ; 
and they open the way to a miserable life, as 
well as an undone eternity. A young man of 
good character may hope to gather around his 
dwelling the blessings of peace, and the com- 
forts of plenty. But with no safe and reliable 
passport like this, he enters upon life only to 
end it in grief to himself and disappointment 
to his friends. Ah ! who would be willing to 
purchase the fellowship of the wicked at so 
dear a rate ? Who can consent to pay such a 
price for the privilege of filling his own cup 
with wormwood and gall ? 

As united fires send up the tallest and 
fiercest flames, so in the case before us, the 
wickedness of the entire group seems to con- 
centrate upon each individual. Shun then, as 
you would pestilence and death, all such as 
have contracted vicious habits. No matter 
what gay clothing they wear, how flippant their 
conversation, or how respectable their friends; 
they are not the companions for you. It is 



COMPANY-ITS INFLUENCE. 81 

impossible to join affinity with them, without 
exposing yourself to be dragged into the same 
gulf, in which they are fast sinking. 

If you will take the advice of one older 
than yourselves, be not ambitious of having a 
multitude of bosom friends. Far be it from 
me to utter a syllable, which might by any 
possibility be construed into an encouragement 
of those misanthropic feelings, which sometimes 
struggle for ascendency, even in the youthful 
bosom. But still let me tell you, that to open 
your arms to every one's embrace, and to form 
intimacies with every new-comer, is to sow the 
seeds of sorrow for yourselves. My advice is 
— be polite, be kind, be courteous to all ; but 
for your own sakes, be familiar with very few. 
Make companions of parents, brothers and sis- 
ters, and you need never feel lonely. 

Let me say further — in choosing friends, 
learn to set a much higher value on virtue and 
religion, than on any outward distinctions. 
Surely, you need not wonder at the multiplied 
sorrows which too often embitter life, if you 
but call to mind on what principle it is, that 
some of its most sacred ties are formed. The 



82 THE SPRING-TIME OP LIFE. 

inquiry is not — Has the individual a truly- 
good character ; but, has he wealth, is he pros- 
perous in business, and do his connections stand 
high in the world ? Nay, family, fortune, and 
personal attractions are not unfrequently re- 
garded as a tolerably fair offset for serious 
suspicions against purity of morals. Oh, is 
it any matter of surprise that this world of 
ours is to so great an extent a sad and dis- 
appointed world. What real happiness can a 
young person, male or female, expect from a 
voluntary alliance with that which is low in 
feeling, debased in taste, and depraved in hab- 
its? The hope of after-reformation in such 
cases, is so fallacious, that you should never 
dream for a moment of relying upon it. Let 
the change for the better come first, and let the 
union, if it ought to take place, follow. 



CHAPTER V. 

ERROR ITS CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES. 

11 1 envy no man his learning, his wit, his 
eloquence, or his fancy, but of all possible pos- 
sessions, there is none I prize so highly as a 
firm and well-established religious belief." 
Who, think you, made this remark? It was 
not a disappointed and desponding man turn- 
ing in disgust from a world which had refused 
him its pleasures, nor was it a minister of the 
gospel, called by his very office to speak of the 
Bible and eternity. No ; these are the sober 
and well-considered words of one courted by 
the great and the gay — a man of high distinc- 
tion in the scientific world, for years in succes- 
sion President of the Eoyal Society of Great 
Britain, and the inventor, of the Safety Lamp, 
of such inestimable benefit to miners. The 



84 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

language is that of Sir Humphrey Davy — a 
name of renown. No man in the early part 
of the present century stood higher as a prac- 
tical philosopher; and his lectures were at- 
tended by brilliant audiences, attracted as well 
by the results of his experiments, as the elo- 
quence of his maimer and the clearness of his 
expositions. Such a man has a right to speak. 
From him it is we learn, that a well-established 
religious faith is to be prized above all other 
attainments and possessions. 

Weighty sentiment this, and happy will it 
be for us if it exert its proper influence ! The 
times are full of peril. We see the minds of 
people wandering through every grade and 
form of skepticism, from the more dignified 
and manly infidelity of the last century, down 
to the lying wonders of Mesmerism and Spir- 
itual-rappings. Such is its chameleon face 
that we can scarcely sketch its likeness, before 
it assumes some new form. The only stabil- 
ity about it is, its contrariety to the simple 
truths of the Bible — its rejection of the claims 
of God and divine truth. 

But why is it so? The causes of every 



ERROR — ITS CAUSES. 85 

sort of infidelity are three : Ignorance. Pride 
of understanding, and a Bad Life. 

That ignorance is a fruitful source of infidel- 
ity, especially in our day, there can be no 
reasonable doubt. The time seems to have 
gone by when men of talents and learning, like 
Hobbes, and Collins, and Bolingbroke, and 
Shaftesbury, are willing to be ranked among 
open and avowed unbelievers. One full ex- 
periment of what wit and erudition could do 
to put the Bible down w r as permitted, but it is 
not repeated and probably never will be. The 
thing has been tried and failed, ignominiously 
and forever. It is seldom now that we find 
real learning and lofty intellect enlisted in the 
work of overthrowing the Sabbath and the 
ministry of the gospel, marriage and the rights 
of property. The business seems entrusted to 
feeble and unfledged hands. 

Lord Bacon understood the matter well, and 
he has given us his opinion in language which 
every school-boy should remember. " A little 
learning," I quote the words of the distin- 
guished sage and the profound philosopher, 
" a little learning may incline a man to infidel- 

8 



86 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

ity, but a good deal is sure to bring him back 
to revealed religion." This remark is well 
founded, and seldom needs the least qualifica- 
tion. If infidelity be making proselytes, and 
probably it is in some quarters, I venture to 
affirm it is not among the well-educated, the 
deeply-read, the truly intelligent, but among 
sciolists, or pretenders to science. It is in- 
structive to mark who they are, here and 
there, that take sides against the Bible, the 
Sabbath and the pulpit. What class of peo- 
ple is it, that rise up and say Christianity is a 
failure ; responsibility to God is a figment of 
the brain ; and suffering in the world to come 
is a bugbear ? Men of respectability and sta- 
tion in society no longer hazard such destruc- 
tive assertions. The infidels of our cities and 
larger towns, except foreigners and new-com- 
ers, are the young and inexperienced, persons 
of little learning and less good sense. These 
are they, who gather up and retail errors a 
thousand times exploded. 

I am well aware that in making this state- 
ment, I shall be considered as treading on ten- 
der ground. Be it so. It is enough for me to 



ERROR — ITS CAUSES. 87 

know where I stand, when I affirm fearlessly, 
and beg you to bring the affirmation to the 
touch-stone of the most rigid scrutiny, that the 
infidelity of our day is mainly the infidelity of 
ignorant pretence. What if these people can 
start inquiries which their humble and pious 
neighbors are unable to solve? A child of 
five years may ask questions about himself 
and his destinjr, about this world and the next, 
about the soul and God, which the best edu- 
cated men on earth are unable to answer. 

Let nothing of this kind move you from 
your steadfastness. Faith in the Bible, just 
as it reads, with all its duties and precepts, is 
but believing in God, as a child believes in a 
fond father, or a wife believes in a faithful 
husband, or a patient believes in a skilful 
physician, or a soldier believes in a brave com- 
mander ; and is no less reasonable. 

Pride of understanding r , too, comes in to help 
on this work of infidelity. Humility is a hard 
lesson for fallen men to learn. There is some- 
thing in the human heart that rises in opposi- 
tion to inspired truth, on a variety of subjects 
connected with God and sin, and law and par- 



88 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

don, and justification and final punishment. 
These are subjects in relation to which young 
men, more than any other class, are prone to 
cavil and object. You would be surprised to 
hear any such doubts suggested or denials 
made by those of the other sex. A young 
lady would lose her respectability at once, if 
it were known that she could talk lightly 
about the Scriptures, salvation, or the world 
to come. 

Suffer me to illustrate my idea by a refer- 
ence to the life of the late excellent Dr. Dwight. 
When he entered upon the presidency of Yale 
College, no small portion of the students, we 
are told, were bold and declared infidels. In- 
deed, so proud were they of this distinction, 
that they assumed the names of the principal 
Deists of England and France. Full of confi- 
dence in themselves, they resolved to bring 
the matter to an early issue, and overwhelm 
the new president at the very outset of his 
course. Accordingly the first question which 
they proposed for public debate was, " Are the 
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments the 
word of God?' 7 They were told to select 



ERROR— ITS CAUSES. 89 

which side of this inquiry they chose, and 
bring forward all the facts and arguments 
which were supposed to bear on the subject. 
Most, if not all, who were expected to take 
part in the debate, appeared as the open cham- 
pions of infidelity. But what was the result ? 
When they had ended, and were felicitating 
themselves on having gained a victory, the 
president took up their arguments one by one, 
and succeeded in showing them that they did 
not at all understand the subject. From that 
day skepticism began to go down in the col- 
lege, until it became universally unpopular. 

A story very similar to this is told of the 
learned and venerable Chief Justice Marshall. 
Much in the same way did he silence a com- 
pany of forward and boastful young men at a 
public inn, who had just been making out to 
their own satisfaction, that the Bible is not the 
book of God. That venerable man, in a strain 
of simple and convincing eloquence, such as 
he well knew how to employ, went over the 
whole ground of the Divine authority of the 
Scriptures, as they all sat together by the fire- 
side, and so clearly did he make out the case, 

8* 



90 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

that not one of them had another word to utter. 
But what is it except pride and self-confidence 
that makes such persons infidels? Instead of 
being really distinguished for free and liberal 
thought, these are the men of all others, whose 
minds are hampered, and whose horizon is 
narrow. Notice it when and where you will, 
real superiority is always connected with diffi- 
dence and self-distrust. The great Sir Isaac 
Newton was a pattern of modesty. 

But, above all, skepticism has its origin in 
a bad life. Nothing has such an influence in 
leading men to break loose from the Sabbath, 
the Bible and the Saviour as the love of sin. 
Thousands are against religion for no other 
reason than because it condemns their wicked 
practices. You never heard of an individual 
that was humble and holj r and prayerful, who 
rejected the Scriptures, denied an hereafter, 
and called in question the being of a God. 
This is fruit which grows only on the bram- 
bles and thorns of vicious indulgences. A 
person must have a reason for wishing there 
ivere no final account and no eternal retribu- 
ion, before he can believe that there is none. 



ERROR— ITS CAUSES. 91 

The principles and practices of men will ex- 
ert a powerful influence over each other. Those 
who do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with 
God, are never forced to raise an outcry against 
the doctrine of human depravity, or the judg- 
ment of the great day. If this be done at all, it is 
almost sure to be done by such as cast off fear 
and restrain prayer before God. The heart is 
led to adopt some false scheme of religious 
opinion and practice from a consciousness — a 
painful consciousness that the life will not abide 
the test of the true one. Look around you and 
see if these things are not so. When you find 
people rejecting the gospe], decrying the most 
sacred institutions, and seeking to cut away the 
cords which bind our country to the throne of 
God, you may conclude of a certainty, that 
there is something wrong in themselves. Good 
men never sow such seeds of bitterness. This 
is the work of an enemy — an enemy as really 
to human welfare as to the government of Je- 
hovah. 

The matter is every now and then brought 
to the decision of actual experiment. Let some 
skeptical lecturer come along, some one who 



92 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

has an easy way of getting to heaven to pro- 
pose, some one desirous of influencing the poor 
against the rich ; and what class of the com- 
munity will be drawn around him? As a 
general thing, be assured, you will not see the 
steady, the sober-minded, the church-going part 
of the people there. If there be Sabbath- 
breakers and drunkards in the vicinity, they 
will be likely to be attracted to the spot ; and 
if there be men of loose habits and unkind to 
their wives, they will be sure to make a por- 
tion of the audience. You may know the man 
and his communications from the character of 
his followers. 

If anything be established beyond contradic- 
tion, it is that a bad life is a fruitful source of 
wrong creeds. A clergyman of my acquaintance 
tells of a boy, not over ten years of age, who 
stood up and looking wise among his associates 
declared that he did not believe the Bible. I 
myself have seen .a man, but a few degrees re- 
moved from idiocy, avowing his belief in uni- 
versal salvation. What principle was at work 
here ? Why, the very same that led the infa- 
mous Eousseau to become an infidel after he 



ERROR— ITS CONSEQUENCES. 93 

had resolved to lead the life of a profligate. 
We have it from his own lips that the rejection 
of the Bible made him feel comfortable in his 
wicked courses. After conscience was thus 
lulled to sleep, it was easy to " work all unclean- 
ness with greediness." 

Ponder this, beloved youth, and you will be 
prepared to look at some of the consequences 
of embracing error. 

These are numerous, and they have been in 
part anticipated, but we may go somewhat more 
into detail. " As truth," to adopt the beautiful 
language of Jeremy Taylor, " has its origin and 
dwelling-place in the bosom of God," no one 
can renounce the truth and embrace error with- 
out harming himself. The following effects 
are sure to be produced by such a course : it 
bewilders the mind, it affords no support in the 
day of trial, and it stands in the way of salva- 
tion. 

There is something in error which has a di- 
rect tendeney to bewilder and enthral the mind. 
We often speak of infidels as " free-thinkers," 
but if by free-thinking is meant, real, conscious 
liberty, the term is egregiously misapplied. If 



94 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

there be anything like mental bondage — a 
bondage servile and degrading, a bondage worse 
than that imposed by the tyrants of Egypt, it 
is theirs. What do such men know, and what 
indeed can they know of thought so emanci- 
pated from everything dark and earthly, as to 
be able to lift itself up to God and commune 
with eternity ? The man who renounces his 
Bible and his Saviour has descended into a 
cavern where no light can reach him with its 
healing beams. All the movements he now 
makes are the mere groping experiments of 
one that has not a ray of the Sun of Kight- 
eousness to guide his footsteps, or cheer his 
heart. 

All error is downward, and the farther a per- 
son advances, the darker does his path become. 
To go forward seems easy and natural, but if 
he ever bethink himself and desire to return, 
he finds that he is involved in a labyrinth, from 
which there appears to be no escape. This 
accounts for the fact, that men so seldom re- 
nounce opinions which they have once embra- 
ced and avowed before the world. We have 
had in our own country an example of a cler- 



ERROR-ITS CONSEQUENCES. 95 

gyman running the whole round of loose opin- 
ions, relinquishing this truth of the Bible and 
that, until at length he landed in universal 
skepticism. Such facts should be held up as 
beacons to warn the inexperienced and unwary. 
Once come to harbor the idea, that this and 
the other great doctrines of the Scripture is not 
to be believed, and the delusion will be very 
likely to go down to the grave with you. The 
false notion will fix itself like a gloomy incu- 
bus on the mind, and prevent your seeing the 
force of any opposite evidence. What you. 
embrace from ignorance and pride, or a love 
of sin, will rivet fetters upon your soul never 
likely to be broken, until death arrests you. 

It has been my lot to witness an example 
of this sort of mental thraldom. The individ- 
ual referred to, had been in the habit, while a 
mere youth, of reading infidel books, and what 
was still w^orse, had often come under the in- 
fluence of infidels themselves. In this way 
the poison had taken effect, and it seemed im- 
possible to expel it. from the system. Though 
he could see the evils of skepticism, and ap- 
peared really desirous to exercise faith in Di- 



9G THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

vine salvation, the shackles were too strong for 
him to break asunder. Little does any one 
know, who has not made the trial, how tena- 
cious are the cords spun and twisted by infi- 
delity. Nothing short of the all-conquering 
grace of God can bring such a man to the 
knowledge and acknowledgment of the truth. 

Again, infidelity affords no sure support in 
the day of trial. Skeptics, as a class, are gen- 
erally unhappy men, uneasy in themselves 
and dissatisfied with everything around them. 
They act like persons treading on yielding and 
ancertain ground, unable to bear their weight. 
What indeed can there be to cheer the heart 
and brighten the prospects of one who has no 
3ible to rely upon, no God to go to, and no 
Saviour to trust in ? If he can manage to be 
gay and volatile in the season of prosperity, it 
is far otherwise when health fails, and property 
disappears, and friends die ; then it is that we 
see the sadness of such as have no hope, and 
are without God in the world. 

Well may the Christian say, " their rock is 
not as our rock, our enemies themselves being 
judges." You have never heard of an humble 



ERROR — ITS CONSEQUENCES. 97 

and devout believer who, in the day of sick- 
ness or on the bed of death, regretted that he 
had confided too implicitly in the Scriptures. 
We may challenge the world to produce a sol- 
itary case. But who has not heard of multi- 
tudes of skeptics, that were filled with anguish 
as eternity approached, and were ready to 
curse the hour when they began to forsake 
the right path? Such instances are familiar 
in almost every part of the land. Of all the 
enemies of revealed religion, in days gone by, 
Hume stands without a rival among those who 
reason, and Voltaire among those who scoff. 
But who were these men, what kind of life did 
they lead, and how did they die ? Let these 
inquiries be answered fairly and truthfully, 
and there will be found to be nothing encour- 
aging in their example. One of them left the 
world joking about the boat which was to 
carry him over the dark river, and the other 
raving with madness at the companions of his 
crimes. It is not necessary to dwell on the 
spectacle of the poor, drunken, bloated Paine. 
There are people in our country lost enough 
to self-respect to keep the anniversary of this 

9 



98 THE SFRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

man's birth, but his death was awfully ap- 
palling. 

If there be a sight on earth truly distressing, 
it is that of an aged and feeble skeptic, neg- 
lected by men and forsaken of God. "While 
his spirits were joyous and his anticipations 
bright, he could trifle with the Bible, the Sab- 
bath, and the Saviour. But it is a very differ- 
ent thing now that the frosts of many years 
are gathered on his head. With health gone, 
and a mind debilitated, and days and nights 
devoid of comfort, where is he to look for con- 
solation, and to what refuge is he to betake 
himself? The heavens are all dark above 
him, and the earth is all desolation around 
him. One foot is already in the grave, and he 
feels himself drawn irresistibly forward to- 
ward a judgment for which he is not prepared, 
and a world where he can hope for no enjoy- 
ment. What a picture of despair! In vain 
does he cry aloud, "Come back! my early 
days, come back !" Ah, young men, there is 
no power in error to chase away the sadness 
of lif§ ? s dark hours, In the midst of wine and 
song §ix& ijierriment; it m ^y do to laugh at the 



ERROR-ITS CONSEQUENCES. 99 

Bible and deny that there is a hell. But this 
is a poor resort for days of pain and nights of 
wakefulness. When heart and flesh fail, God 
only can be the strength of the heart, and the 
portion forever. 

Then, finally, skepticism of every sort stands 
directly in the way of salvation. This is the 
worst effect of all, and it is one, alas, which we 
have reason to fear is realized in thousands of 
instances. If it be under God, the truth, the 
simple truth of the Bible which converts men, 
how are they ever to be brought out of dark- 
ness into the marvellous light of the gospel, 
while their hearts are full of unbelief? Noth- 
ing indeed is too hard for Omnipotence, but 
such a state seems to me to be hopeless above 
all others. Let a man once imbibe some favor- 
ite system of error, and like a thick cloud it 
will be sure to shut out the light of heaven 
from his mind. 

This is a point which may be brought to the 
touch-stone of every one's experience or obser- 
vation. Tell a person that he is not lost and 
ruined by sin, that he needs no regeneration 
to fit him for the kingdom of heaven, that God 



100 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

is too merciful to cast off any of his creatures 
forever, and that there is no demand for so 
much prayer and effort, and you are doing all 
you well can to make his destruction sure. If 
he believes what you say, each of these opin- 
ions will prove like a bar between him and 
the path of life. How can he flee from the 
wrath to come, the very existence of which he 
denies, or how can he fall into the arms of 
Christ as a Saviour, when he has no convic- 
tion that he needs such a Saviour ? Little do 
men think what consequences a rejection of 
these doctrines of the Bible is sure to involve. 
You will never find a man anxious about ob- 
taining a new heart, until he believes that a 
new heart is necessary, or desirous to be made 
holy, until he believes that "without holiness 
no man shall see the Lord." In matters of 
this nature, the conduct is controlled by the 
creed. 

Take heed then how you yield to the be- 
ginnings of this evil. If you give up the Di- 
vine authority of the Sabbath, or the doctrine 
of total depravity, or the final condemnation 
of the ungodly, you may for the very same 



ERROR— ITS CONSEQUENCES. 101 

reason give up any other and every other 
truth which you happen to dislike. The 
whole is made up of its several parts, and to 
blot out one chapter is to impugn the charac- 
ter of the entire book. There is a process in 
the human mind, in the reception of error, 
which you will do well to note. The man 
who begins by doubting in regard to certain 
specified statements, will generally be found 
after a while cavilling at them ; and soon the 
open and utter rejection of them follows as a 
matter of course. These things naturaHy and 
almost unavoidably succeed each other. The 
steps are usually short which lead men down 
from incipient skepticism to bold and unblush- 
ing infidelity. 

How then can I do otherwise than warn you 
against listening to the instruction that causes 
to err from the words of knowledge. Tell me, 
my young friend, when or where has infidelity 
enlightened, purified or blessed a nation, tribe 
or family ? Where has it taken up its abode 
in the domestic circle to render parents more 
kind, or children more dutiful, or brothers and 
sisters more happy in themselves, or in one an- 

9* 



102 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

other? Where has it entered an individual 
bosom to soothe its sorrows, establish its hopes, 
and expel its apprehensions? These are 
achievements effected by the Bible, and the 
Bible alone. 

I must urge you therefore to hearken to no 
one, be his reputation or talent what it may, 
who would lessen your reverence for the word 
of God. Never suffer the beauty of language 
or the fascination of eloquence to diminish 
your regard for simple, unadulterated truth. 
The pill may be gilded, and yet contain arse- 
nic. If the living teacher or the printed page 
be found to give you diminutive views of sin, 
or hide the glory of the Saviour, you have 
heard and read enough. Take not another 
step in this direction. No matter what pre- 
tence is set up, your peace of mind is of more 
moment to you than all besides ; and sooner than 
relinquish this blessing, burn the book that 
would injure you, and sacrifice the friend who 
would lead you astray. 

But I forbear. There is one safeguard, and 
you will find it in cherishing an habitual rev- 



ERROR — ITS CONSEQUENCES. 103 

erence for the Bible as the book of the living 
and true God. Hold fast here, fail what may, 
and it will be well with you in life, well with 
you in death, and well with you in eternity. 



CHAPTER VI. 

CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 

I could hardly do any youth, a better ser- 
vice, than to recommend to him the frequent 
and careful study of the Book of Proverbs. 
For pith, and force, and comprehensiveness, 
Solomon has had no equal, in any age or coun- 
try. This is the man to whom God gave " wis- 
dom and understanding exceeding much, and 
largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on 
the sea-shore." 

Among the many sayings of the wise man 
adapted to those in early life, let me dwell a 
little upon one of pre-eminent importance. 
" Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and 
lean not unto thine own understanding.' ' Here 
is a sovereign antidote to two of the evils to 
which young men are often exposed — timidity 
on the one hand, and presumption on the other. 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 105 

Only pursue your course safely between these 
perils, and we shall see you in due time, reach- 
ing the desired haven in peace. 

What Solomon would inculcate upon youth, 
in this striking passage, is a continual depend- 
ence on the word and providence of God. You 
may exert your powers, and put forth your 
efforts, but you must not rely upon them. An 
entire submission to the will and ways of the 
Most High, joined to a deep distrust of your 
own wisdom and prudence, is what your con- 
dition demands. 

The words apply to practice, as well as faith 
— to the course you should pursue, as well as 
to the creed you should adopt. In both these 
respects you are in danger either of self-confi- 
dence, or despondency. Every youth in the 
land needs to be stimulated to earnest and per- 
severing exertion, but then he equally needs to 
know that the way of man is not in himself. 
If he can be set right, and kept right in these 
two particulars, eventual success is almost 
certain. 

But WHY IS IT UNSAFE for men to lean unto 
their own understanding ? 



106 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

It is so because of the limited capacities of the 
human mind. The knowledge, gained by the 
wisest of men, however diligent and success- 
ful they may have been, is confined within 
a comparatively small compass. How little, 
after all, do they comprehend of the operations 
of nature, or the mysteries of Providence ? A 
very few steps take them beyond their depth. 
Wonderful as were the discoveries of Sir Isaac 
Newton, he seemed to himself merely to have 
been walking along the shore, and picking up 
now and then a shining pebble, while the vast 
treasures of the ocean still lay unexplored be- 
fore him. Such a sentiment from the lips of 
such a man, ought to have weight. Let pre- 
tenders boast as they may, true science is in- 
variably modest. It is only the superficial 
thinker, the man with a bare smattering of 
knowledge, one that has simply tasted of the 
ethereal spring, that deems himself to be very 
wise. 

Is proof of this demanded ? You may find 
it in the well-established fact, that men of the 
clearest minds, and most solid attainments, are 
generally the most ready to admit the weak- 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 107 

ness of their own understanding. Bipe and 
thorough scholars are seldom self-confident. 
Humility is the constant attendant of true wis- 
dom. Mark how patiently such persons listen 
to others, with what diffidence they give their 
own opinions, and how slowly they come to 
fixed and definite conclusions. Especially are 
they backward to reject that which has the 
sanction of age, and the recommendation of 
usefulness. Never do they adopt new notions 
on any topic of interest for the sake of being 
singular, or with a view of evincing their supe- 
riority to the decisions of days gone by. They 
have too much good sense to break loose from 
what is settled, and run after the thousand va- 
garies afloat in the world. It is of no avail to 
tell them, that this strange thing and the other 
strange thing is exciting attention, and making 
proselytes, unless it coincides with the lessons 
of the Bible, and of experience. You do not 
see them " carried about by every wind of 
doctrine. 7 ' 

Well do they know, that to confide in their 
own reasonings, on the great questions which 
relate to God, and pardon, and eternity, would 



108 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

be but to follow an ignis-fatuus. Men of deep 
reflection, and really logical minds cannot thus 
become the dupes of their own imbecility. 
What they have as yet traversed of the vast 
fields of knowledge, bears so small a proportion 
to what still lies before them, that they feel 
more like learning than teaching. 

What a contrast this with the conduct of 
those, who merely skim the surface of things ! 
Never examining any important subject with 
sufficient care to see its real difficulties, or 
grapple with them, they naturally enough be- 
come talkative and opinionated. There is but 
little in their minds at all, and that little lies 
so entirely on the top, that it runs off without 
an effort. A fuller vessel would be Jess fluent. 
The world abounds with such folks, and they 
are the very people who are ready to overturn 
the pillars on which society has been resting 
for centuries. Puffed up with a vain conceit 
of their own wisdom, they feel themselves equal 
to any task. It would really seem as if they 
were wise enough in their own eyes to renounce 
all the teachings of the past, and cast every- 
thing into a new mould. But such a course 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 109 

never ends well. It is that sort of leaning unto 
one's own understanding which is almost sure, 
sooner or later, to involve an utter departure 
from the right path. 

Again, men are liable to prejudice. Where 
can you find an individual whose opinions on 
the most vital topics are not somewhat in- 
fluenced by his feelings and wishes? There is, 
even in the most candid and ingenuous, some 
sort of bias in the mind, which must be resist- 
ed, or it will mislead. Be on your guard as 
you may, you will not unfrequently detect 
yourselves in pursuing a given course, more 
because it is pleasing, than because it is right. 
It is what is felt to be agreeable, rather than 
what is known to be proper, that decides the 
case. Opinions are embraced, and courses of 
conduct persisted in every day, on the simple 
ground that the heart loves them, and not that 
the judgment approves of them. How hard it 
is to see things in a just light, when duty leads 
in one direction, and inclination in another. 

This, allow me to say, is one main reason 
why the Bible is so often rejected. Could you 
get behind what is open and palpable, and ex- 

10 



110 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

amine the secret springs of action, you would 
find that skeptical opinions generally have 
their origin in inward depravity. The state 
of the heart determines the decisions of the 
judgment. Free-thinking, in a great majority 
of instances, is the result of free-living. So 
hard is it for men to practise one thing and 
believe another, that you will by and by see 
them making shift to suit the articles of their 
creed to the habits of their life. This is so 
natural that multitudes do it, almost uncon- 
sciously to themselves. What reason is there 
for surprise in the fact, that men who love sin 
soon come to renounce the authority of the 
book which contains the sentence of their con- 
demnation ? It would be strange were it 
otherwise. Thousands dislike the Bible for 
the very same reason that Ahab disliked Mi- 
caiah — it " prophesies evil" against them. A 
known and felt disqualification for heaven is 
really the grand argument by which bad men 
persuade themselves that there is no hell. 

An appeal to facts can scarcely fail to set 
this matter in its true light. Are men of loose 
opinions on the subject of religion, men of sol- 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. HI 

emn and earnest inquiry ; men of a candid and 
ingenuous temper ; men of useful and virtuous 
lives ? Whatever may be said of individuals, 
there is no difficulty in learning where they 
stand as a class. Let them pretend what they 
may as to liberality and openness to conviction, 
there are no people in the world so completely 
encased in prejudice, as those who see no truth 
in the Bible, and no glory in the character of 
Christ. 

Sad as such a statement is, its truth will 
hardly be called in question. The word of 
God has to make its way to the human bosom, 
through a host of prejudices and prepossessions 
of the most formidable character. A cold as- 
sent to it as a valuable document of antiquity, 
is of no avail, if you go no further. If received 
to any saving purpose, it must be received to 
govern the will, and purify the affections, and 
regulate the temper, and shape the life. To 
dress it up in beautiful binding, and give it a 
place on the parlor table, will not suffice. Its 
grand aim is to get possession of the heart, and 
■unless dominion be given to it here, its claims 
to come from God will probably be rejected. 



112 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

There is a prejudice in the mind which impels 
it to lean to its own understanding. 

Once more, the sentiments and purposes of 
multitudes are very unsettled. Not a few pass 
through the world, without ever becoming 
rooted or grounded in any well-considered 
opinion, even on the most vital points. Their 
course from first to last is shaped altogether by 
circumstances. As for fixed and firmly estab- 
lished principles, in regard to God, and sin, 
and Christ, and the life to come, they cannot 
be said to have any whatever. The ideas they 
entertain on such subjects float loosely in the 
mind. Nothing is settled, nothing steadfast. 
To-day they are one thing, to-morrow another ; 
and if any single trait of character is confirmed 
in them, it is a love of perpetual change. We 
may liken them to a ship at sea without helm 
or ballast. When the wind blows from one 
point of the compass they sail before it, and 
when it shifts they are sure to shift likewise. 
Unstable as water, how can they excel ? 

You have often met with persons of this va- 
cillating and wavering state of mind. Though 
they seem to be ever learning, they are never 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 113 

able to come to the knowledge of the truth, or 
quietly to settle down on any system whatever. 
A love of novelty keeps them perpetually 
chasing after this teacher and that, and trying 
this scheme and that. Instead of believing 
that arsenic is arsenic, upon the testimony of 
competent judges, they must needs taste for 
themselves, though at the hazard of being poi- 
soned. It would be amusing, were not the 
interests involved so serious, to stand by and 
witness the thousand chameleon tints which 
such persons assume. One thing only seems 
certain, and that is, that they are on a decliv- 
ity, and are descending lower and lower. Jude 
describes them in truthful, but most terrific lan- 
guage — " Clouds they are without water, car- 
ried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth, 
without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the 
roots ; wandering stars, to whom is reserved 
the blackness of darkness forever." What a 
description of a man, broken loose from truth, 
and driven about at the mercy of every breeze? 
It is the ruin of multitudes, that they have 
no stability of character. Afraid of the shackles 
of an early education, they launch forth upon 

10* 



114 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

the great and wide sea of human uncertainties, 
as if there were neither rocks nor shoals. What 
their fathers and mothers taught them seems 
tame and lifeless. It pleases them better to 
turn from the beaten path, though in doing so 
they are forced out into a wilderness on which 
no ray of light falls, and where no sure index 
denotes the course to be pursued. Alas, how 
much is lost as to peace of mind, and confi- 
dence in God, by such a reckless spirit as this ! 
In place of what once seemed fixed, and past 
dispute, these persons find themselves now 
tormented by a sort of universal uncertainty. 
It is impossible for them any longer to say 
what they believe, or where they rest. From 
leaning unto their own understanding, they 
have rapidly gone down to the point of having 
no creed, no hope, no heaven, no God. 

Pause here, and consider what has been said 
in the way of caution. Eeflect upon the lim- 
ited capacities of men, the prejudices which 
stand in their way, and the instability of their 
opinions, and you cannot but see reasons why 
you should not be self-confident. 

But there is encouragement for you as well 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. H5 

as caution. This yon have in the Divine in- 
junction, "Trust in the Lord with all thine 
heart." 

You need guidance from above. If anything 
is made plain, by the history of the race, and 
of every individual of that race, it is that a 
revelation of the will of God is absolutely 
indispensable. Destitute of the light of the 
Bible, man has been forever groping in the 
dark, and must continue forever to grope in 
the dark. It was on purpose to meet this felt 
want of the human bosom, that the Most High 
has condescended to utter his voice, and give 
forth his oracles. On these blessed pages, all 
instinct with life, and all luminous with truth, 
we have a perfect rule of conduct. Instruc- 
tions are here given, and principles are here 
laid down, which apply to every variety of 
case, even though the case itself be not partic- 
ularly stated. Nothing essential to a complete 
system of faith, and a correct line of practice, 
is omitted. This single volume tells us all 
that we need to believe concerning God, and 
makes sufficiently obvious every duty that God 
requires at our hands. No one can wander 



116 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

from the right path, Avho meekly and honestly 
takes the Bible as his guide. 

It is not pretended that every objection 
which the wicked heart of man can raise, ia 
answered here in so many words. Men — if 
determined so to do — may continue to stum- 
ble and fall on such questions as, Why was 
sin permitted to enter our world ? Why have 
the heathen been left in their idolatry ? Why 
are so few who hear the gospel saved by it ? 
They may, if they will, cavil at the incompre- 
hensibility of the doctrine of the Trinity, and 
the union of divinity and humanity in the one 
person of Christ. But all this only shows 
that their proud hearts have never been hum- 
bled, and their high looks have never been 
brought low. On all points which relate to 
facts, and principles, and actual duties, the 
Bible is the plainest, and most easily under- 
stood book in the world. Only be ready to do 
the will of God, and you shall know all that 
need be known of the doctrines which he in- 
culcates. 

Will you spurn the light of this lamp of 
life, merely because you cannot solve every 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 117 

query in regard to the nature and mode of its 
shining ? The book of Creation is in many re- 
spects very like the Bible. It is impossible to 
study them in connection, and not perceive that 
the pen in both cases was held by the same 
hand, and that they are equally emanations from 
the same infinite mind. The two streams flow 
from one great fountain-head. If the impress 
of Deity is fixed upon the lofty mountain, 
and the fruitful valley, and the rolling ocean, 
it is equally fixed "upon the Pentateuch of 
Moses, the Proverbs of Solomon, and the vis- 
ions of John. The same Being who formed 
the earth and clothed it in beauty, has given 
us the Prophecies, and the Psalms, and the 
Gospels. But these volumes, though both the 
product of one all-comprehensive mind, and 
both intended as the medium through which 
one undivided power and Godhead should be 
made known to us, are not equally adapted to 
inculcate moral duty. It is on the Scriptures, 
and on the Scriptures alone, that you must rely 
for direction on all such points. They speak 
in intelligible and clear terms as to what you 
should believe, and the course you should pur- 



118 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

sue. Only approach them with the humility 
and simplicity of a little child, and you will 
find that they shed a most reviving light over 
all your pathway. 

The Bible, to those who feel their need of 
its guidance, is, for the most part, a very per- 
spicuous and intelligible communication. That 
difficulties are to be met in this sacred volume, 
that deep mysteries are brought forward on 
these inspired pages, is just what might have 
been expected. The Book would have lacked 
one proof of its Divine original, had it con- 
tained nothing which we cannot a search out 
unto perfection." But so far as essentials are 
concerned, its truths are clothed in language 
of the utmost perspicuity, and brought down 
to the level of the most untutored intellect. 
It is emphatically a book for man, consult- 
ing his wants, and adapted to his circum- 
stances. Who ever went astray while follow- 
ing its directions ? " Only give me," says one, 
11 a Bible and a candle, and though shut up in 
the deepest dungeon, I can tell you what is 
going on in the world." 

Then too you must depend on God's overrul- 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 119 

ing Providence. Every one has questions to 
ask respecting the way he shall take, the plans 
he shall adopt, and the responsibilities he shall 
assume, which man can never answer. The 
mind needs something clearer, stronger, surer 
to lean upon, and that something the world 
does not afford. If we turn to our dearest and 
best friends, they are as much at a loss as our- 
selves. If we consult the history of other 
men's lives, we find no solution of our doubts. 
A path opens on this side, but whether it is a 
path to walk in, or to shun, is more than mor- 
tal man can tell us ; and it closes on that, but 
whether it closes, to turn us in another direc- 
tion, or to try our patience, none are wise 
enough to say. We need a power above to 
mark out our way. 

The urgency is great, but, thanks to God, it 
i& not unprovided for. There is an all-dispos- 
ing Providence rising up before us, like the 
Star in the East ; and if we follow its direction, 
we shall be led safely in the way. What a 
privilege to be able to descry such a light, 
while walking in darkness. To a rightly dis- 
posed mind, nothing can be more animating 



120 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

than the thought, that the same God, who cre- 
ated the stars, and marshals the hosts of heaven, 
notices also a sparrow's fall, and numbers the 
hairs of our head. Who can say, that he has 
no one to care for him ? If the God in whom 
he lives, and moves, and has his being, takes 
a deep interest in his welfare, what needs he 
more ? Let him but feel right, and do right, 
and all will be well. Temporary embarrass- 
ments will do him no eventual harm. If his 
dependence is on the Mighty God of Jacob, 
ravens shall bring flesh, and fish furnish tribute 
money, sooner than his expectations shall be 
cut off. 

Eely upon it, "the steps of a good man are 
ordered by the Lord." No audible voice reaches 
his ears, from the high and holy place, saying, 
" This is the way — walk ye in it," but he has 
in the thousand arrangements made without 
his agency, and oftentimes contrary to his ex- 
pectations, all the evidence he needs, that one 
higher than himself is giving complexion to his 
life. He finds scarcely anything as he once 
fondly thought it would be. The place he 
lives in is not the one which in his childish 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 121 

days he dreamed of, nor is he surrounded by- 
such circumstances as once brightened his an- 
ticipations; yet he can say, God has done 
all things well. Though clouds and darkness 
have sometimes been about him, he sees the 
guidance of a Divine hand almost as distinctly 
as did the Israelites while making their way to 
the land of promise. 

To all this you must add earnest prayer for 
direction. If men will ask the help of God, 
they will not ask in vain. To encourage them 
to do this, he comes near to them by his word 
and Spirit, and seeks in a thousand ways to 
win their confidence. In nothing does he take 
more delight than in the weak coming to him 
for strength, and the blind depending upon 
him for sight, and the wandering directing 
their eyes to him for guidance. If they "yvdll 
find heart and voice to pray, he will be sure 
to find an ear to hear, and an arm to save. 
You may read the annals of the Church from 
beginning to end, and you will not meet 
with a solitary instance, in which God hid 
his face from the supplications of his people. 
When all other resources failed, this was the 

11 



122 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

refuge to which they could betake themselves 
with confidence. 

" The secret of the Lord is with them that 
fear him, and he will show them his covenant." 
Difficulties now and then arise in the history 
of every individual's life, on which the Bible 
seems to throw no satisfactory light, and in 
reference to which the responses of Providence 
appear to admit of no clear solution. This, 
though a trying case, is distinctly contem- 
plated and provided for in the Scriptures of 
truth. "If any man lack wisdom" — so runs 
the comprehensive direction, the explicit prom- 
ise — "if any man lack wisdom, let him ask it 
of God, who giveth to all men liberally and 
upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." 
"What more could be desired ? Such a decla- 
ration has a value which belongs not to silver 
and gold. On the easy condition of going to 
God with a humble and believing heart, to 
seek his guidance in the day of perplexity, 
the pledge of a gracious answer is made ; and 
heaven and earth may pass away before it 
shall fail. "Why then should any one live or 
die in doubt. That very Being who alone is 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 123 

able to tell you what is good for man, both as 
a dweller on earth, and a probationer for eter- 
nity, has publicly committed himself in refer- 
ence to this matter, and he will redeem his 
bond. The word has gone out of his mouth, 
and cannot be recalled. From the days of Enos 
when men began to call upon his name, to the 
present hour, the promise stands unbroken. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and 
you shall never be ashamed or confounded. 
If you doubt this, look at Jacob on the plains 
of Penuel, at David in the cave of Adullam, 
at Ezra by the river Ahava, at Peter in the 
house of Simon the tanner, and at Paul and 
Silas in prison at midnight. Think of the 
prayers of Edwards in the midst of the revi- 
vals at Northampton, of Brainerd among the 
Indians of the wilderness, and of Martyn on 
the sands of Persia. These cases all proclaim 
as with trumpet- tongue that "it is better to 
trust in the Lord than to put confidence in 
man" — yea, that "it is better to trust in the 
Lord than to put confidence in princes." To 
connect one's cause by prayer with the mercy- 
seat, is to ensure the best possible success. 



124 THE SPRING-TIME OP LIFE, 

Can you then do otherwise, my young 
friends, than comply with the duty thus en- 
forced? Learn to depend implicitly on the 
teachings of Divine truth ; have an eye to the 
good providence of God at all times ; and be 
faithful in pouring out your hearts in prayer 
before him, and you will be led in the right 
way. God himself invites you to this course, 
and pursuing it you will never be disappointed. 

The bane and antidote are now before you. 
Lean to your own understanding as you make 
your way through the world, and nothing but 
disappointment and sorrow will hang upon 
your footsteps. Trust in the Lord with all 
your heart, and everything is safe for both 
earth and heaven. And the one or the other 
of these things you will certainly do. Counsel 
you will take of some one, and it will be either 
of man or God, either of yourselves or your 
Maker. You need light, and you will seek it 
from your own taper, or from the Sun of 
righteousness. Can you hesitate ? 

O come now, in the bright morning of your 
being, while the dew of youth is fresh upon 
you, and put yourselves under the guidance 



CAUTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT. 125 

of tbe word and Spirit of God. Take no step, 
form no associations, engage in no pursuit, 
without first turning aside to implore the 
blessing of the Mighty God of Jacob. Set out 
in life upon this plan, and follow it steadily 
from day to day, and I guarantee that the ret- 
rospect will occasion you no regret, in the 
hour when flesh and heart must fail. Put 
yourselves under the care of a covenant-keep- 
ing God, and he will " guide you by his coun- 
sel, and afterwards receive you to glory." 

11* 



CHAPTER VII. 

TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 

Were I called to name any one trait of 
character, which goes farther than another, 
perhaps than all others, to render a person 
really worthy of respect, I should say — vera- 
city. The child that will always tell the truth, 
the youth that will always tell the truth, and 
the man of business that will always tell the 
truth, is sure to be relied on. Even in the 
absence of much that is pleasing in deport- 
ment and amiable in disposition, a well-estab- 
lished reputation for simple, straight-forward, 
undeviating honesty, never fails to secure re- 
spect and confidence. A love of truth, like 
charity, seems to cover a multitude of sins. 

To those especially, who are just now form- 
ing a character, the habit of stating things pre- 
cisely as they are, is of more consequence than 



TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 127 

can be easily estimated. Point me to a young 
man, in any walk of life, of undeviating vera- 
city — a veracity which knows no forgetfulness, 
and which no temptation can overcome, and I 
dare predict for him a safe and honorable ca- 
reer through the world. No danger but that 
such an one will open for himself an avenue 
to the confidence of wise and good men. Let 
it be seen that a love of simple verity is so 
imbedded in his bosom, that neither fear nor 
favor can turn him from it, and he will be re- 
garded, confided in, and employed. 

There are different kinds of truth ; mathe- 
matical truth, moral truth, and evangelical 
truth, and they are all important. So there 
are different ways of uttering falsehood. It 
may be done by flattery, it may be done by 
promise-breaking, and it may be done by per- 
jury. But my object now is to treat of truth 
in its ordinary acceptation, in the intercourse 
of man with man. 

We may define truth by saying, it is confor- 
mity to fact, and to utter truth, is to utter what 
we honestly believe to be in accordance with 
fact. There is in every such case, a faithful 



128 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

correspondence between the heart and the lips, 
the feelings and the words, the inward con- 
sciousness and the outward expression. A 
really truthful man never intends to produce 
a conviction in the mind of another, by lan- 
guage or signs, different from that which exists 
in his own mind. If you could read his very 
thoughts, as they arise and assume shape, you 
could frame from them no other conclusions 
than those which his words are adapted to 
convey. Ingenuous himself, he cannot desire 
to deceive others, or allow them to receive 
from him as true, what he knows to be false. 
If he speak or act at all, he must speak and 
act conscientiously. 

Be careful to understand this. No man de- 
serves to be called a man of veracity, who does 
not give utterance to the real meaning of his 
own heart. The essence of falsehood consists 
in an intention to deceive, and this may be 
shown by a look of the eye, a motion of the 
hand, or a tone of the voice as effectually as 
by explicitly uttered words. Anything which 
makes an impression inconsistent with fact, 
when that impression is purposely made, is a 



TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 129 

departure from truth. It is either a spoken or 
an acted falsehood. 

But farther. It is possible to state facts and 
to state them as they actually occurred, and yet 
so to arrange and put these facts together, as to 
constitute actual falsehood. Suppose I should 
say of two boys, William and John, at the same 
boarding-school, that William left John's room, 
and five minutes after he left it, John went in 
and found that his watch was gone. This 
might convey an untruth, in the worst sense 
of the term, though the things took place pre- 
cisely as has been stated. I should not thus 
charge William with being a thief in so many 
words, but my way of telling the story would 
convey that impression. This is a homely il- 
lustration, but all the better on this account. 
It presents the subject in a light in which it is 
not sufficiently contemplated, and in a form in 
which it cannot but be understood. If you 
would avoid sinning against the ninth com- 
mandment, it is necessary to know that decep- 
tion may be practised even where no words of 
untruth are used. A lie may be acted as well 



130 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

as uttered. It may be a lie in reality though 
not in appearance. 

As you come into closer contact with the 
world, you will meet with people ready to jus- 
tify themselves for departing, on some occa- 
sions, from the laws of strict veracity. Let me 
name a few of the more common instances in 
which this is done. Here is a father trying to 
get his child to take medicine, and to overcome 
its reluctance for the nauseating dose, he gravely 
affirms that it does not taste bad. Yonder is a 
fashionable lady, who wishes her time for other 
purposes, and sends a servant to the door to 
say she is not at home. Here is a circle of 
kind friends, who persist in telling the occu- 
pant of the sick couch, that his case is not 
considered at all dangerous. But are not all 
these to be put down in the catalogue of de- 
ceptions ? To make the best of them, they are 
doing evil that good may come. 

Such acts generally defeat their own end. 
The deception will be detected. Something 
will occur to make the disguise apparent. 
How much better to be open and ingenuous, 
and if we tell not the whole truth, tell nothing 



TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 131 

but the truth. Let that father act with deci- 
sion, and say to the sick child in so many 
words, This medicine is unpleasant, but you 
can take it in a moment, and we believe it will 
do you good. Let that mistress of the family 
speak out plainly, and tell her visitors that her 
time for the present is occupied with other and 
indispensable duties. Let that group of anxious 
friends, if they must express an opinion to the 
afflicted one, express it truly, and endeavor to 
turn his thoughts to Him, in whose hands are 
the issues of life. This is the only course con- 
sistent with sound morality, and here, as in 
everything else, it will be found that honesty 
is the best policy. 

But the evil in question assumes a thousand 
forms. There are lies of sheer malice, pure 
fabrications of iniquity uttered and circulated 
to defeat some dangerous rival, and cloud the 
fair fame of some political aspirant. There are 
lies too of self-interest, as when the seller of 
goods extols them beyond what he knows to 
be their value, or the buyer says of them, "It 
is naught, it is naught." And there are lies of 
vanity, told by men who love to attract atten- 



132 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

tion, and can never suffer a story to pass 
through their hands without giving it some 
additional embellishment. But they are all 
lies, and if not equally malignant in their na- 
ture, yet all to be scrupulously avoided. 

By what motives then may truth be en- 
forced ? These are so numerous, it is difficult 
to make a selection. Eeasons for speaking the 
truth, one with another, rise up on every side, 
and are drawn from time and eternity, from 
your relations to God and your fellow-men. 
Let me suggest a few of them. 

Falsehood of every name and form is a sin, 
a sin against the God who made you, in whose 
hand your breath is, and whose are all your 
ways. If ever tempted to transgress in this 
particular, open your Bible and read, as from 
the mouth of Jehovah himself, " Ye shall not 
deal falsely, neither lie one to another." Turn 
to the passage, " All liars shall have their part 
in the lake which burneth with fire and brim- 
stone, which is the second death." This is 
enough. God is a God of truth ; the Bible is 
a book of truth ; Jesus is the faithful and true 
witness ; the church is the pillar and ground 



TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 133 

of the truth, and every precept of the Most 
High is true and righteous altogether. How 
then must a lie appear in His sight ! 

Hence you find the most awful judgments 
inflicted for the commission of this sin. You 
know how the servant of Elisha was struck 
with a leprosy, which ended only with death, 
for his falsehood in reference to the talents of 
silver and changes of raiment given him by 
Naaman the Syrian. Your hearts have trem- 
bled within you, while reading the terrible 
catastrophe which befell Ananias and Sapphira, 
for lying to the Holy Ghost about the price of 
their land. But these are only individual in- 
stances. The history of the world proves that 
lying is a sin, which in the holy providence of 
God is seldom suffered to go unpunished. 

Even life itself is not to be purchased at the 
price of falsehood. Had the martyrs consented 
by a word or a nod, to deny the Lord that 
bought them — could they have been persuaded 
to cast a single grain of incense upon the idol's 
altar— they might have escaped the rack, the 
scaffold and the cross. But false they could 
not be in word or in deed, though life was the 

12 



134 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

forfeit of being faithful. In their view it was 
a thousand times better to go to prison and to 
death, with a clear conscience, than accept of 
deliverance on condition of deceiving; and 
that they judged wisely is proved by the 
crowns they now wear, and the harps they 
now tune. 

Consider, too, how it elevates and ennobles 
one, to stand fast by the truth in the greatest 
emergencies. What else was it than the love 
of truth, that sustained the three Hebrew chil- 
dren when the fiery furnace was heated to 
seven-fold intensity ; that enabled Daniel to 
answer the king so tranquilly while sitting 
among the lions in their den ; and that filled 
the blessed Saviour with such composure in 
the presence of Pilate ? Truth has often stood 
up, unattended and alone, to rebuke the mad- 
ness of the people, tear off the veil from the 
designs of despots, and reason of righteousness, 
temperance and judgment to come, in the pres- 
ence of pomp and power. In whatever else 
you fail, never, never swerve from the truth. 
Even a bad man, if known never to tell a lie, 
will command a measure of respect. But a 



TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 135 

liar is everywhere despised. To charge a man 
with falsehood is regarded as the greatest in- 
sult which vulgarity and ill -nature are capable 
of offering. 

The whole frame-work of society is upheld and 
kept in order by truth, and nothing but truth. 
Let deception become universally prevalent, 
and communities as such could scarcely exist, 
much less flourish and be happy. If charity 
is the blood w r hich circulates through the sys- 
tem, imparting to it life and w r armth, truth is 
the joints and ligaments which hold all to- 
gether. What would be the condition of a 
family, a school, a church, or a city, in which 
no one's word could be relied on. In such 
case, the stream of social enjoyment would be 
poisoned at its very fountain. Other vices 
have but a partial and circumscribed influ- 
ence, but this touches everything and pollutes 
everything. Suspicion now takes the place 
of confidence, and the abodes of human beings 
are turned into so many dens of ravenous 
beasts. The very thought is appalling. Im- 
agine for a moment what would be the inevi- 
table result, if the husband could no longer 



136 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

trust in the word of his wife — the child in that 
of his father — the mother in that of her daugh- 
ter — or the sister in that of her brother. Con- 
fidence and happiness could have no place. 
Even Hope would not be left behind. 

No wonder that the liar is regarded as so de- 
graded a character. Long ago did he begin to 
go astray by not keeping up the distinction 
between truth and falsehood, so that he soon 
became not only unable to repeat the same 
story twice in the same way, but ready to add 
one circumstance and another, until now he 
can tell a point blank lie and not blush. If 
there be deeper degradation than this, I scarce- 
ly know where to find it. What a process has 
all the while been going on in the man's own 
mind. That his comfort is destroyed, and the 
light of heaven shut out from his bosom, is 
only a part of the evil. One transgression fol- 
lows another, until by and by he is palpably 
detected, and known and recognized as a liar. 
All honest and true men exclude him from 
their companionship as a nuisance and a plague- 
spot. 

What is he to do and where is he to go in 



TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 137 

such circumstances ? I am not speaking now 
of the sadness with which the child retires to 
its pillow, or the gloom with which the student 
opens his books, or the dread which fills the 
bosom of the clerk after the commission of the 
first fault of this kind. This, if it go no far- 
ther, is dreadful. There is already an arrow 
in the soul, the poison whereof drinketh up 
the spirits. But let the solitary act become a 
habit, and though the conscience should grad- 
ually grow so callous as at length to be past 
feeling, the public ignojniny which must hence- 
forth and forever hang upon his footsteps, is 
absolutely overwhelming. All, all of real vir- 
tue is now gone. 

We tell a sad tale of a young man, when we 
say that he is now and then overcome with 
wine, or that he occasionally breaks the Sab- 
bath, or that he sometimes swears profanely. 
God forbid that I should speak of such prac- 
tices, in any other terms than those of decided 
reprobation. But on some accounts, and in 
relation to certain aspects of character, it is 
worse and more fraught with every ingredient 
of utter hopelessness, to be compelled to say 

12* 



138 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

of him, that he no longer feels upon his heart 
the sacred obligations of truth. When this is 
said, all is said that can be meant by the fear- 
ful word ruin. 

O, then, give me assurance that you will 
never conceive or utter words of falsehood, 
and " my heart shall rejoice, even mine." Let 
our little children, growing up as olive plants 
around our tables ; our sons and daughters at 
school; our clerks and apprentices, be truth- 
loving and truth-speaking, at all times and 
under all circumstances ; and every one who 
wishes their welfare, will be filled with glad- 
ness. As for being rich, or acquiring great 
learning, or standing high in the temple of 
fame, it is more than any one can assure you 
of. But you can all attain to the dignity and 
honor of having a perfectly transparent char- 
acter, and this will be sure to shed a hallowed 
light over your future pathway, be it what it 
may, and lead where it will. 

Eeal Christians, without a sacred regard for 
truth, you can never be. Men may be sin- 
cerely pious, and yet have many errors in 
their understandings and many corruptions in 



TRUTH BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 139 

their hearts, but they cannot be pious if in 
league with him "who loveth and maketh a 
lie." Such a life is one perpetual falsehood — 
a grand and fatal deception. 

No matter what the exigency is, meet it 
manfully and abide the result. It may be a 
sore trial to the boy of ten years, to come for- 
ward and say, though it be with a beating 
heart and quivering lip, I did the wrong. It 
may make a heav} r draught upon the courage 
and constancy of the young man, frankly to 
say, The evil is upon me, for I am its author. 
It may require a greater strength of inward 
principle than many members of the commu- 
nity possess, to say ingenuously, That mistake 
is mine. But once rise to the elevation of say- 
ing so, and a grand victory is gained. A sin- 
gle such open and candid avowal is worth more 
than tongue can tell. 

That strict and undeviating adherence to 
truth will never cause you temporary incon- 
venience, is more than I dare promise. But 
what of that ? Should love of truth threaten 
you with poverty and loss of friends, or should 
it turn you out cold and comfortless upon the 



140 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

world, mind it not. The gain will be greater 
than the loss. Sit down in ashes with Job and 
feed like the prophet on tears, rather than dwell 
in the palaces and share the banquets of false- 
hood. 

" Buy the truth and sell it not." Be thank- 
ful to the parent, who watches over you with 
sleepless vigilance and marks the slightest 
aberration from truth. Prize the teacher who, 
pass by whatever other faults he may, never 
feels at liberty to let you trifle with truth. 
Venerate the Minister who stands up in the 
pulpit and tells you, that none can enter heaven 
who do not speak the truth. 

But yield in this matter to the beginnings 
of evil, and a weak and cowardly heart will 
soon feel the necessity of sustaining one false 
statement by another still more false, until at 
length the chain becomes so heavy as to break 
by its own weight, and what was carefully con- 
cealed is suddenly brought to light as open, 
ignominious and never to be forgotten guilt. 

Is it not wise and well to offer the prayer, 
Lord, " cleanse thou me, from secret faults, keep 
back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." 



CHAPTER VIII. 



BIBLE HONESTY. 



Religion is not, as some take it to be, a 
system of dry, abstruse doctrines. It comprises 
practice as well as faith ; the regulation of the 
life as well as the rectification of the heart ; a 
correct conduct in the world, as well as a sound 
creed in the church. If one page of the Bible 
tells us what man is to believe concerning God, 
the next is sure to tell us what duties God re- 
quires of man. Thus the way is prepared for 
uniting good citizenship and true piety, the 
strictest integrity with the purest devotion. 

Doing justly, you will readily see, is no less 
necessary than loving mercy and walking hum- 
bly with God. No system of sound morals or 
Christian piety can be deemed complete, which 
does not bring clearly out the principle of per- 
fect reciprocity between man and man. Some- 



142 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

thing to regulate the complicated business in- 
tercourse of the world, is indispensable to the 
welfare of individuals, and of society at large. 
The Catechism of King Edward thus explains 
the ninth precept of the Decalogue : "It com- 
mandeth us to beguile no man, fc> occupy no 
unlawful wares, to envy no man his wealth, and 
to think nothing profitable that either is not 
just, or differeth from right and honesty." This 
seems to cover the whole ground. 

But we turn to the Saviour's Sermon on the 
Mount, and find something still more full and 
comprehensive. The injunction of the Great 
Teacher is, u All things whatsoever ye would that 
men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for 
this is the law and the prophets. 11 These words 
are "like apples of gold, in pictures of silver." 
It is said that one of the Eoman Emperors had 
them inscribed on the walls of his closet, and 
frequently referred to them in his public acts ; 
and it would be sad if they should receive less 
respect at Christian hands. 

We may regard this as the true and proper 
definition of the word honesty, and I cannot 
better fill up the present chapter, than by ex- 



BIBLE HONESTY. 143 

plaining the precept, and specifying some of the 
cases to which it especially applies. 

Much is comprised here in one short and 
easily remembered sentence. It requires us to 
deal with our neighbors, in everything which 
appertains to the commodities of life, just as 
we should think it proper for them to deal 
with us in an exchange of circumstances. If 
we would have others act fairly and righteous- 
ly towards us, then we are bound for the same 
reason to act fairly and righteously towards 
them. The measure of our just expectations 
from the men with whom we have business 
intercourse, is the precise measure of our own 
duty. Such is the substance of all the teach- 
ings both of the law and the prophets, on this 
important point. Nothing more is required 
from man to his fellow-man. Nothing more is 
demanded by the claims of the purest recti- 
tude. For any one simply to do as he would 
be done by is enough. 

The moral beauty of the precept before us 
cannot fail to be seen at once. Not only does 
it lay an absolute interdict upon everything in 
the form of direct theft, but it goes behind the 



144 THE SPRING-TIME OP LIFE. 

act, and strikes at that desire for the property 
of others, in which such act originates. An 
honest man according to the Savior's teachings, 
is one who always intends to do right, whether 
it make for him, or against him. Besides re- 
garding the false balance and the deceitful 
weight as an abomination, he is above all that 
shuffling and evasion, by which multitudes 
seek to advance their interests in the world. 
His intentions are upright in the sight of God, 
and hence it is natural for his dealings to be 
upright in the sight of men. In every transac- 
tion, which has respect to property, he is what 
he would be thought to be ; his conduct is a 
fair transcript of his principles. Not intending 
wrong, he has nothing to conceal, and nothing 
to gloss over. Try him as often as you please, 
and let him be exposed as often as he may, his 
unbending integrity still shines forth, as gold 
from the heat of the furnace. 

Such a man is honest simply because he does 
to others as he would that they should do to 
him. Is he a dealer in those articles which 
are needed for daily domestic consumption, 
it is as safe to send a child eight years of age 



BIBLE HONESTY. 145 

to make the purchase, as to go yourself. Does 
he employ some laboring man to gather in his 
harvest, the hard-earned wages are not kept 
back a moment unnecessarily. Has he money 
for which he has himself no immediate use, no 
advantage is taken of the exigency of some less 
fortunate neighbor. In all matters of this na- 
ture, he acts upon one fixed and well-defined 
plan, and hence his heart reproaches him not 
for injustice. 

A truly honest man will never avail himself 
of the weakness or incompetency of the pur- 
chaser, to fill his own purse. What he gives 
in articles of food, fuel or clothing, he intends 
shall be a fair and just equivalent for what he 
receives in produce or money. If the article 
has in it any defect, known to him, but un- 
known to his customer, he feels bound to re- 
veal it, however much it may work to his 
pecuniary injury. Never does he sell a dam- 
aged yard of cloth, whatever its texture or 
appearance, for a full price. Never does he 
put off a horse as sound, when he himself has 
evidence to the contrary. In such cases, all 
the loss resulting to one individual through 

13 



146 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

ignorance, is so much unlawful gain to the 
other. So far as principle is concerned, it 
would be just as proper to go unobserved into 
a neighbor's house, and take from it an equal 
amount of silver or gold. To say that such 
things are common in the business world, 
avails nothing, unless you can prove that they 
are right. 

That the deviation from perfect fairness, in 
the way of trade, is in itself but small, by no 
means proves that it is proper. The maxim 
of the blessed Saviour is, " He that is faithful 
in that which is least, is faithful also in much, 
and he that is unjust in that which is least, is 
unjust also in much." It is neither the large- 
ness nor the littleness of the thing, that makes 
it fair or unfair, honest or dishonest. Find a 
man who will deliberately overreach his neigh- 
bor in the smallest item, and that man, if the 
temptation were increased, would overreach 
him on the broadest scale. The straight line 
of duty may as really be passed, by the least 
departure from rectitude, as by the most pal- 
pable injustice. 

Never forget, my young friends, that a penny 



BIBLE HONESTY. 147 

stealthily abstracted from the drawer, a sixpence 
belonging to another appropriated to one's own 
use, a false representation made in regard to a 
piece of tape, is as real dishonesty, before God, 
and so far as the state of the heart is concerned, 
as the changing of the face of a bond from fifty 
dollars to five hundred. It was not the value 
of the fruit, which constituted the criminality 
of our first parents. Their act was criminal 
because it was disobedient, and the smallness 
of the thing done, if it affected its blamewor- 
thiness at all, only made that blameworthiness 
the greater, inasmuch as it was proof of a 
stronger disposition to transgress. 

These remarks should be well weighed by 
such as are just commencing their business 
career. It is no excuse for the false statement, 
or the incorrect entry, but a great aggravation 
of thern both, that not much profit is antici- 
pated by such deviations from rectitude. What 
then are we to think of the thousand little 
tricks, and petty dishonesties, which so often 
disfigure the dealings of man with his fellow- 
man ? It seems as if the real dishonesty of the 
heart, in such cases, must be greater, inasmuch 



148 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

as the temptation is less. Besides, little here 
leads to much, and to tamper with evil at all, 
is the first step towards going after it openly 
and fully. The act which puts a man in the 
state-prison is not usually the only one of the 
kind committed. A beginning was made pre- 
viously, of which this is the natural and ap- 
propriate consummation. 

Such is the searching nature of the precept 
in question, and cases to which it espe- 
cially applies are easily pointed out. 

That all fraud, in the common use of the 
term, is here forbidden, is too plain to require 
a word of proof This is a crime so well un- 
derstood, and so universally infamous, that 
not a moment need be spent in holding it up 
to your detestation. Direct theft and outright 
robbery are not sins into which young men of 
any respectability are much in danger of fall- 
ing. At least, this is not the point at which 
aberration usually commences. It will be 
more profitable to put you on your guard 
against the same general evil, in its less palpa- 
ble and reproachful forms. 

But to prevent all misapprehension, let me 



BIBLE HONESTY. 149 

make a single preliminary remark. You are 
by no means to conclude that there is anything, 
in this golden rule of the Saviour, to render a 
man indifferent to the obtaining of what is 
clearly and justly his due. Some of the most 
perfectly honest men I have ever known, have 
been very careful to require, at the precise time 
and in full measure, what was truly their own. 
Prompt themselves, they naturally expect 
promptitude from others, and if they demand 
what is right, they never demand more than is 
right. Strict integrity is the law of their own 
dealings, and the law which they wish to see 
everywhere enforced. These, too, mark it 
where you will, are generally the men whose 
hearts and hands are most open to aid the 
Christian and benevolent enterprises of the 
day. With them it is a principle to save, in 
order that they may give; and careful to 
keep their outgoes clearly within the limits of 
their income, they are seldom without some- 
thing to bestow. 

In seeking to incorporate honesty with the 
daily business of life, the great point is, not to 
covet any man's " silver, or gold, or apparel." 

13* 



150 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

This is checking the evil in its embryo ; and 
when all desire of unlawful gain is thus ex- 
pelled from the heart, it will be found an easy 
thing to keep the hands from defilement. A 
man of true integrity is so on principle, and 
■would be so irrespective of all laws and penal- 
ties on the subject. Still it is well to be spe- 
cific, and see how the general rule of duty is to 
affect individual cases. 

The injunction, " Whatsoever ye would that 
men should do to you, do ye even so to them," 
has a double application. It addresses those 
who have hands to labor, as well as those who 
have property to live on — those who would 
rise, as well as those who have risen in the 
world. To the first of these classes, its direc- 
tion is, deal fairly and equitably with your 
employers. The capital with which you com- 
mence business is your strength and skill and 
perseverance ; and see to it that you use them 
according to the terms of the specific, or im- 
plied contract. For the time being they be- 
long to another, and not thus diligently to ap- 
propriate them is fraudulent. Make no prom- 
ise, which at the moment you do not feel able 



BIBLE HONESTY. 151 

to perform ; but having made it, be as good as 
your word, though compelled to rise while the 
stars are still shining. Redeem every pledge 
of this sort, unless prevented by the providence 
of God. Better deny yourselves food or sleep, 
than be guilty of any such keeping from others 
what belongs to them. 

This however is not all. The Saviour's pre- 
cept tells men that build houses, and open 
stores, and have lands cultivated, that they too 
have a duty to discharge. Just as soon as the 
service is rendered, the equivalent for it in 
money or goods, is no longer yours, and you 
cannot retain it and be strictly honest. On 
what principle is it that you have a right to 
make the journeyman, the clerk, or the day- 
laborer, wait your convenience? Who author- 
ized you to consume his time — time perhaps 
which he needs to obtain bread for his children 
— by requiring him to call again and again? 
The world may not denominate this fraud, but 
it is fraud, and fraud which God has promised 
to avenge. 

In process of time, some of you may attain 
to wealth and distinction, and find it proper to 



152 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

band yourselves with others in carrying for- 
ward important enterprises. Should such be 
the case, be on your guard. It is a common 
opinion, and no doubt often a correct one, that 
chartered companies will allow themselves to 
do what, as individuals, they could never do 
and retain the least reputation for honesty. 
The idea seems to be, that though a single man 
may not take advantage of his neighbor, ten 
or twenty united may do it with impunity. 
Each appears to merge his individuality in 
the collective body, so that the guilt of the 
wrong transaction, may be diffused over the 
whole, and thus not be perceived. 

Are you ready to say, None but a sadly per- 
verted mind could ever thus impose upon it- 
self? This is true, and yet the iniquity, we 
have reason to believe, is often practised, and 
the evils resulting from it are felt far and wide. 
Many a widow, and group of fatherless chil- 
dren, have in this way been despoiled of their 
little all. I charge you spurn every such com- 
panionship in iniquity. Never do a disrepu- 
table deed, because there is in it a division of 



BIBLE HONESTY. 153 

responsibility. The dishonesty is personal, 
though the act is that of a company. 

There is still another case, which may try 
the strength of your uprightness. After rising 
to the possession of wealth, you may lose that 
wealth, and be reduced to the hard necessity 
of putting off your creditors with fifty cents 
on a dollar. Nothing is more common in the 
fluctuations of the business world. The rich 
man of to-day may become the poor man of 
to-morrow. But the path will after all be open 
before you, and the tide of fortune may again 
set towards your habitation. And what will 
be your duty, as honest men, under such cir- 
cumstances ? Why, to pay every penny you 
owe in the world. No matter if you have a 
legal clearance. No matter if nothing can be 
demanded of you. It is impossible that any 
bankrupt law- should set aside the enactments 
of the Saviour. 

Let me cite an example. A man who was 
once Franklin's fellow-passenger to England, 
had been engaged in business in that country, 
was unsuccessful, compounded with his cred- 
itors, and came to the United States. Here by 



154 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

dint of unremitting industry, and careful fru- 
gality, lie amassed a considerable fortune in a 
very few years. Upon his return to England, 
lie invited all his old creditors to an entertain- 
ment, when after thanking them for their in- 
dulgence, he presented to each an order for 
the full amount of his claim, principal and in- 
terest. Noble man ! He did as he would be 
done by. And if ever brought into similar 
circumstances, go ye and do likewise. 

Fix it then in your minds from this hour, 
that you will always act upon this rule of the 
Saviour. Be assured " honesty is the best poli- 
cy." Overtaken by misfortune you may be, 
but so long as you are conscious that no one 
can point to a single unfair act, in all your 
business arrangements, you may sit calmly 
down in the midst of broken hopes, and dark- 
ened prospects. But, as Milton justly says, 
11 God and good men will not suffer a fair char- 
acter to die." The day often arrives when the 
man of unbending integrity is permitted to 
come back to the mansion, where he formerly 
met the smiles of joyous and confiding friend- 
ship. Hold on to what is right, and the issue 



BIBLE HONESTY. 155 

will be happy. You may die poor, but you 
will die honest. Your couch may be hard, but 
your sleep will be sweet. 

And so far as the well-being of society is 
concerned, honesty is of pre-eminent impor- 
tance. Deprive the world of trade, of this 
strong bond which now holds all its parts to- 
gether in harmony, and it would fall to pieces 
as certainly and as suddenly, as would the world 
of matter, if deprived of the great law of grav- 
itation. But blessed be God, there is enough 
of fairness and uprightness, in business trans- 
actions, to lay a foundation for general confi- 
dence. What else could induce a merchant or 
manufacturer to suffer all he has to depart 
from under his own eye, and go to the other 
side of the globe, there to be lodged with per- 
sons he has never seen ? Bad as the world is, 
it is not so bad as it might be. Here is a man 
in New York, sleeping soundly on his pillow, 
while all the gains of years of successful indus- 
try, are stowed away in the warehouses of 
London, or Liverpool. This tells a favorable 
story for the commercial integrity of the world. 
Everything is entrusted to factors abroad, with 



156 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

an assurance almost, that it will return with 
a double tide of opulence to the man's own 
door. 

I charge you, my young friends, do nothing 
yourselves to break up the foundation of this 
general confidence. Live in a lowly dwelling, 
wear a threadbare coat, sit down to a dinner 
of herbs, sooner than create a temptation to 
dishonesty, by permitting your expenditures to 
outrun your income. Distressing tales might 
be told on this subject. If you begin to go 
astray, you will find before you are aware of 
it, that you have woven a web about your steps, 
from which there is no breaking loose. Deter- 
mine from the very first, that though you may 
be poor, you will not fail to be honest. Come 
what will, rise or fall, have friends or be left 
alone, resolve, as God shall help you, that no 
living man shall ever say you wilfully did 
him wrong. 



CHAPTER IX. 

INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. 

There is running through the whole system 
of nature, providence and grace, a very close 
connection between means and ends. Success 
is not to be gained — the hill is not to be climbed 
— the crown is not to be won without an effort. 
No one need expect to be borne along to the 
prize, either in religious or secular matters, in- 
dependently of his own exertions. Though 
the race is not always to the swift, nor the bat- 
tle to the strong, yet he that dealeth with a 
slack hand will become poor. The diligent in 
business may fail, but drowsiness is sure to 
clothe a man with rags. 

This is a wise and kind arrangement, at once 
blessing men and making them a blessing. It 
is the flowing brook, and not the stagnant pool, 
that is pure itself, and spreads health and fer- 

14 



158 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

tility over the land ; and it is the man of per- 
severing industry, who is happy in his own 
bosom, and who contributes to the happiness 
of others. Let idleness prevail, and the cheer- 
ful hum of business is exchanged for the dis- 
cordant notes of vice and revelry. Besides, it 
should never be forgotten, that the use of one's 
powers, physical and mental, is necessary to 
their full and proper development. Without 
bodily exercise, the muscular arm of the labor- 
ing man would never have had its present 
strength. Without activity of mind, Bacon 
and Locke and Newton would have been weak 
as other men. 

Think of this, as you are now starting for 
the goal, and gird yourselves for a life-long 
labor. If you look about in the world at all, 
you must see that comfort and competency are 
not ordinarily to be anticipated, except at the 
price of honest industry. So teaches the in- 
spired volume, and such is the testimony of 
observation and experience. You wish to rise 
in the world, and we blame you not for it. 
The desire is natural and laudable. But re- 
member that the cost of this attainment is 



INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. 159 

steadfast and well-directed effort. Let me tell 
you, 

1. What industry really implies. 

You must engage in some useful calling. La- 
bor is the allotted condition of man. It was so 
in Paradise, and still more emphatically is it 
so now. He is to eat his bread by the sweat 
of his brow. Active exertion is what he was 
intended for. Every feature of his counte- 
nance, every faculty of his mind, every bone 
of his body, every muscle of his limbs give in- 
dication of this. It is said that all are indolent 
by nature, but indolence is proof of depravity. 
Savages hate work. Barbarians in every land 
and clime are lazy. It is only in Christian 
countries, that habits of application are found, 
and these are formed generally while the heart 
is tender and the character is taking its com- 
plexion. You can scarcely find an industrious 
man, anywhere, the morning of whose days 
was spent in idleness. So well was this un- 
derstood among the Jews, that it passed into a 
proverb — he who does not bring up his child 
to industry, brings him up to be a beggar. 

Yet toiling with the hands is not necessary 



160 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

in every case to show that man is fulfilling his 
allotted condition here on earth. Who works 
harder than the minister of the gospel, with 
the cares and responsibilities of a large congre- 
gation upon him — or the physician, liable to 
be called to the sick-bed by day and by night 
— or the lawyer, surrounded by clients whose 
interests he is bound to regard as his own — or 
the judge, dispensing justice from the bench — 
or the legislator, watching for the weal of 
multitudes. Chalmers, and John Mason Good, 
and Emmet, and Sir Matthew Hale, and Wil- 
berforce were industrious. It is a great mis- 
take to suppose that labor is confined to far- 
mers, mechanics and merchants. The nature 
of the service rendered to God and their gen- 
eration by these several classes of persons dif- 
fers, but there is no harder work than that 
which tasks the head, the mind and the heart. 
This often wrinkles the face and turns the hair 
gray sooner than ploughing and digging. 

No exceptions are to be made for such as 
are in affluent circumstances. In respect to 
industry, there is no favored class. Parents, 
who are themselves happy examples of sue- 



INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. 1G1 

cessful industry, must not let their children 
grow up in idle habits. Sons and daughters 
should scorn the idea of suffering their fathers 
and mothers to toil from the rising of the 
morning till the stars appear, while they them- 
selves have nothing to do. The kind of em- 
ployment is left very much to your own option, 
but the duty of being employed is one of divine 
inculcation. We are to labor six days of the 
week, as well as rest on the Sabbath. 

Besides, you must work energetically and per- 
severingly. Not that there must be incessant 
toil, without relaxation or rest. Nature de- 
mands due repose, and nothing is lost to mind, 
body or estate by hearkening to her voice. 
The man who toils early and late, and hardly 
takes time to sleep, to visit a friend, or observe 
the Lord's-day, will find sooner or later, that 
he is not consulting his own best interests. It 
is impossible for you to better the divine ar- 
rangements. "Poor Castlereagh," cried one 
of his earliest and best friends, when he heard 
of the suicide of the great statesman, "Poor 
Castlereagh ! he had no Sabbath." Eelaxation 
is like stopping to whet a scythe, a file or saw, 

14* 



162 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

or oil the wheels of a carriage. The time thus 
spent is more than made up by the ease of the 
after movements. 

It is easy to make grievous miscalculations 
here. Energetic as the student, the clerk, or the 
apprentice may occasionally be, he will find it 
impracticable to lay the burden of one period 
over upon another, What is not done at the 
proper time, whether in sacred or secular things, 
is generally never done, and certainly never done 
well. But it is possible for men to be occupied 
every day and every hour of the day, with no re- 
sult that seems to correspond with the effort put 
forth. Thousands, says the old adage, make 
greater haste than good speed. This reminds us 
of the exclamation of a busy man on his deathbed. 
" I have wasted life by laboriously doing noth- 
ing." There is such a thing as being in a hurry, 
and yet not getting forward. The reasons are 
two : men either occupy themselves with trifles, 
or they fail to carry through what they under- 
take. It is not the deep and majestic river, 
but the shallow brook that makes a noise. 
What we need, both in the church and in the 
world, is a calm, steady spirit. To run well for 



INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. 163 

awhile is not sufficient. There must be a hold- 
ing on and a holding out to the end, or the 
prize will not be secured. 

Again, you must act upon some regular and 
well-considered plan. System is everything. A 
distinguished individual was once asked, how 
it was possible for him to get through with 
such an amount of labor. His reply is worth 
remembering. "I do one thing at a time." 
General Washington was remarkable for the 
order and regularity with which he attended 
to the vast affairs entrusted to his care. Every 
paper had its date and its place. No time was 
lost in looking up what had been mislaid. The 
distinction of Henry Martyn, both as a man 
and a missionary, depended not a little upon 
his habits of regularity. To such an extent 
did he carry these, that he was known in the 
University, as the student who never w r asted 
an hour. No wonder that he rose to such 
eminence as a scholar and a Christian. 

There is more in this than you probably are 
aware of. How often is it that men carry to 
their graves a sort of unfixedness and desul- 
toriness of character contracted in early life. 



164 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

They never become in the pulpit, at the bar, 
or on the bench, what they ought to have been. 
If they have a shop, everything is out of order ; 
and if they have a farm, it looks as though it 
had no owner. The inattention of the first fif- 
teen or twenty years of life, hangs about them 
like a gloomy incubus to the very end. When 
will it be learned that distinction is not won 
by fits and starts. A sudden impulse now and 
then, however noble, is not enough to lift one 
up to enduring eminence and respectability. 
" Patient continuance in well-doing," is neces- 
sary. 

A good plan of life is like the skilful pack- 
ing of merchandise ; you get much more into 
the same space. What can a man do, who has 
no regular hours for rising, for prayer, for 
meals, or for rest. Everything in such a case 
must of necessity be loose and ineffective. 
Take for instance the bright and buoyant 
hours which thousands waste on the morning 
pillow, and what a vacuum do they make in 
life. Piety, health, and success, all suffer by 
such indulgence. Beckoning the day at ten 
hours of active employment, and one hour lost 



INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. 165 

in bed, out of every twenty -four, makes a dif- 
ference of six years in sixty. Who of the 
heavy -headed slumberers among us thinks of 
this? The celebrated Buffon promised his 
servant half a crown for every time he should 
get him up at a certain hour. And to this 
fact r he tells us the world is indebted for his 
Natural History. 

But it is time we proceeded to the inquiry 
how is industry the road to success. 

It is so, partly because it keeps men out of 
the way of temptation. To be busy, is itself a 
security against a thousand ills, and a passport 
to a thousand blessings. If the young Divine 
has no pastoral charge, let him read, and think, 
and write, and a call will come in due time. 
If the young lawyer has but few causes to try, 
let him attend to his office and his books, and 
clients will by and by appear. If the young 
Physician has only now and then a patient, let 
him keep at work in gaining fitness for duty, 
and his services will be sought. If the young 
Merchant or Mechanic has but few customers 
at first, let him stick to his counter or shop, 
and they will come by and by. The effect of 



166 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

such a course is two-fold: it preserves him from 
evil, and it fits him for duty. 

We have an affecting description of an idle, 
sauntering youth, in the seventh chapter of the 
Book of Proverbs. Much of the detail could not 
with propriety be given here. But suffice it to 
say, that a young man void of understanding was 
seen at the dusk of the evening, wandering about 
the city, where he was met by an impudent 
woman, who with her much fine speech caused 
him to yield, so that he went after her straight- 
way, as an ox to the slaughter, or a fool to the 
correction of the stocks. But it proved like a 
dart striking through his liver, and he found 
at last, that her house was the way to hell, 
leading down to the chambers of death. But 
for the king's leisure, the story of Uriah's mur- 
der had never been told. It is a proverbial 
remark, founded on experience and common 
sense, that Satan will employ him, who does 
not find employment for himself. Unoccupied, 
he is sure to fall into a current which' will 
gradually carry him farther and farther away 
from God, from hope, and from heaven. 

Industry will secure the confidence and en- 



INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. 167 

couragement of good. men. What is it that we 
first inquire after, respecting one who is just 
coming forward on the arena of public life? 
Brilliant talents may be desirable ; respectable 
connections may have an influence ; property 
may serve as an outfit ; but after all, our real 
judgment of the man, and our readiness to 
commit important trusts to his keeping, will 
depend on something more inherent and per- 
sonal. We must know that he is industrious 
and faithful. Without these abiding qualities, 
capacity, and family, and fortune will seem 
light as air and empty as a bubble. 

It is instructive to ask who they are, that 
rise to the highest distinctions both in church 
and state. Flashes of genius and outbursts of 
effort usually accomplish little. We hear much 
of fair openings and happy beginnings, but in 
a great majority of instances the men of per- 
severing diligence bear away the palm. The 
best talent on earth is that of assiduous appli- 
cation. Pharaoh understood this matter well, 
when he said to Joseph, " If thou knowest any 
men of activity 7 ' among thy brethren, " make 
them rulers over my cattle." We know what 



168 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

to depend upon when we employ such persons. 
But show me a young man, who mingles in 
every little group gathered at the corners of 
the street, and is ready to attend to anybody 's 
business but his own, and it requires no pro- 
phetic eye to foretell his course. No one puts 
confidence in him. He dooms himself to the 
occupancy of an inferior position all the days 
of his life. 

Moreover, persevering industry generally 
secures a competency of ivorldly good. God has 
nowhere bound himself by an absolute prom- 
ise, to fill the barns of every diligent man with 
plenty, and cause his presses to burst out with 
new wine. This would give to the Divine ad- 
ministration a temporary and earthly aspect, 
unbefitting its high ends. Cases will be found 
in which the best human exertions and the 
greatest human prudence fail of success. A 
wind from the wilderness may beat down the 
dwelling, fire from heaven may consume the 
sheep, and robbers from the desert may drive 
away the cattle. Neither industry nor piety 
is to be regarded as a protection from sickness 
and loss and disappointment. Still, as a gen- 



INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. 169 

eral remark, it will be found true that "the 
hand of the diligent" literally a maketh rich." 
This is a law of Providence, and it operates 
with more force and regularity than many 
seem aware of. If industry and frugality 
sometimes stand disconnected with the com- 
forts of life, the instances, it must be admitted, 
are rare indeed. 

Riches may "make themselves wings and 
fly away;''* but who does not know that the 
penury and misery y/hich exist in the land, 
are generally to be traced to indolence and in- 
temperance and improvidence. It is no want 
of charity to say, that squalid and oppressive 
poverty, in our happy country, as a general 
thing, is criminal, and should be so regarded. 
Hear in what glowing language Solomon 
speaks: "I went by the field of the slothful 
and by the vineyard of the man void of under- 
standing; and lo! it was all grown over with 
thorns, and nettles had covered the face there- 
of, and the stone wall thereof was broken 
down. Then I saw, and considered it well: 
I looked upon it and received instruction. 
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little fold- 

15 



170 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

ing of the hands to sleep : so shall thy poverty 
come as one that travelleth ; and thy want as 
an armed man." Striking description this, 
and true to the life. 

But who is not gratified to see honest indus- 
try conducting to happy results? In every 
city, town and village of the land, we find men 
who began the world with nothing, living now 
in great respectability, and exerting a wide- 
spread influence on all around them. Theirs 
is a favored lot. It is pleasant to see labor 
thus rewarded. Such persons may adopt the 
language of the grateful patriarch, and say, 
" With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and 
now I am become two bands." If piety is 
added to their other mercies, they indeed have 
all and abound. 

Cheer up, then, young men, and let your 
hands be strong. You live in a land of indus- 
try and enterprise. It has been strikingly 
said, "that here, as nowhere else, we subdue 
and replenish the earth — we plant corn in the 
very path lately trod by the buffalo of the wil- 
derness — we gather wheat on the spot where 
the Indian council-fire but recently burned — 



INDUSTRY THE ROAD TO SUCCESS. 171 

we build cities almost as by oriental enchant- 
ment — we raise millions of money for the pur- 
pose of popular education — we voluntarily 
support thousands of churches and ministers, 
and what is more, we send preachers and 
printing-presses and Bibles to the dwellers in 
distant lands." What a picture ! Yes, and all 
this by a people that two centuries and a half 
ago had no existence. 

Examples of successful industry are at hand. 
It would be pleasant to speak of men of every 
profession, and in every walk of life, from the 
pioneer of the wilderness, to the Merchant Prince, 
all of whom, by the blessing of God, became what 
they were and what they are, by the help of their 
own strong arm and resolute hearts. But there 
is one case so exactly in point, and so literally 
an illustration of our subject, as to merit a dis- 
tinct notice. Had you been in Philadelphia a 
hundred and twenty years ago and met a poor 
boy, friendless and alone, with a roll of bread 
under his arm, inquiring for work in a print- 
ing-office, you could hardly have imagined 
that a lad so forlorn, would ever come to rank 
among the Philosophers of the day, be an 



172 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

ambassador to a foreign country, and actually 
stand before kings. Yet all this was achieved 
by Benjamin Franklin. What a testimony to 
the value of diligence in business ! 



CHAPTER X. 

THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 

That there is a vast amount of evil in the 
world, all ^dmit. Complaints are made on 
every side of the early development of bad dis- 
positions — as seen in impatience of parental 
restraint, disregard of the counsels of experi- 
ence, and contempt of divine institutions. But 
the question arises, whence this premature im- 
piety. There is doubtless a reason for it ; and 
perhaps the reason may be found partly in the 
fact, that in our times too much attention is 
paid to the mere surface of character. "We for- 
get that the way to cleanse the outside is to 
make the inside clean. It is not properly con- 
sidered that men are never safe, and can never 
be really happy, until they become a law to 
themselves. Young men must set out in the 
world with good principles. 

15* 



174 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

You cannot but be interested to see in what 
light the Scriptures present this subject 

No book more fully inculcates the value of 
sound and firmly-established principles. We 
scarcely go too far when we affirm, that the 
grand design of this communication from God, 
in all the lessons it prescribes and in all the 
duties it enjoins, is to prepare men to be a law 
to themselves. The demands of the Bible are 
complied with, really and in truth, only when 
we love the Lord our God with all our heart, 
and our neighbor as ourselves. This covers 
the entire ground. Let these two short, ex- 
plicit, easily-remembered requisitions be obey- 
ed, and it would restore our jarring, discordant 
world to the peace and serenity of Paradise 
itself. 

It is instructive to mark what worth the 
Bible always attaches to internal rectitude. 
Take up the volume at what page you please, 
the Pentateuch of Moses, the Psalms of David, 
the Proverbs of Solomon, the Epistles of Paul, 
or our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, and you 
will see that it proceeds upon the one idea that 
every man is to be tried by his principles. Ap^ 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 175 

pear as he may, unless right in this respect he 
is no better than a whited sepulchre, beautiful 
on the outside but within full of all unclean- 
ness. There must be a renewal of the heart, 
before the life can be correct. 

Nothing is sounder in philosophy, or more 
orthodox in piety, than to make the tree good 
as the only method of securing good fruit. The 
whole scheme of revealed religion implies the 
necessity of an internal renovation. God must 
first put his Spirit in men and create in them 
a clean heart, before they will walk in his 
statutes or keep his commandments to do them. 
A new moral taste has to be created, a new 
motive power supplied, a new principle im- 
planted. " Marvel not," cries the Great Teach- 
er in the ears of the astonished Nicodemus, 
" Marvel not that I said unto you, ye must be 
born again/' This renders a man, in the high- 
est and best sense of the words, a law to himself. 

This is the scriptural way of reforming the 
world. Make a man a new creature, as the 
Bible phraseology is, or, which is the same 
thing, bring him to love God supremely, to 
trust in Christ sincerely, and to delight in the 



176 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

divine law heartily — and you secure at once 
his right conduct, in all places and circum- 
stances. No other religion seeks thus to 
change the principles of the inner life. It is 
the glory of the great system of truth, em- 
braced between the covers of this venerable 
book, that it seeks to establish itself in the 
love and humility and reverence of the heart, 
as the only true, as it certainly is the only 
successful method of controlling the life. 

These remarks throw light on a variety of 
modern movements to rectify the evils of so- 
ciety. As a general thing, no real, enduring 
good is attained by merely taking advantage 
of the impulse of the moment to induce men 
to promise that they will avoid this or that 
pernicious course. The amendment may be 
very valuable in itself, and very much de- 
manded by the circumstances of the case ; but 
the pledge to amend, which is administered 
with no instruction, and adopted with no con- 
viction, will be hardly likely to outlive the 
excitement in which it originated. There is 
nothing to support it ; the seed has no roots, 
no tendrils reach down into the soil. 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 177 

Mistake not my meaning. Specific pledges 
are sometimes useful, but their usefulness must 
depend upon the intelligent and well-consid- 
ered motives which prompt to them. While 
it may be proper to call them in to strengthen 
actual purposes of reform, they must never be 
suffered to take the place of such purposes. 
In the case of the thoughtless, the inconsider- 
ate and the unprincipled, they will, almost as 
a matter of course, prove like the morning 
cloud or the early dew, which vanish away. 

The divine plan is infinitely better, because 
it goes on the assumption that the state of the 
heart regulates the habits of the life. You do 
comparatively little for a man, when you put 
the book of the law into his hands, unless you 
can at the same time secure the putting of the 
spirit of the law into his mind. In addition 
to the precepts of an external revelation, writ- 
ten with pen and ink on the page before him, 
there must be a writing of those same precepts 
on the tablet of the soul within him. Then 
the man becomes, by a sort of happy necessity, 
his own rule of conduct. Were there no other 
preacher, he would still love his neighbor, be 



178 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

honest in his dealings, fear God, and keep the 
Sabbath holy. The Bible regulates the great 
sources of feeling and of action. Only secure 
scriptural principles in the heart of the com- 
munity, and commercial integrity will prevail, 
prudent habits will be formed, diligence in 
business will be practised, and all the gifts of 
Providence will be put to the wisest use. This 
book speaks with a voice that hushes into si- 
lence the din and tumult of the world. To 
scatter it everywhere over the land is really to 
sow the seeds of stability of character and en- 
during independence, and to secure for all time 
to come the spectacle of a powerful, thriving, 
well-ordered society. 

This is an essential point, and happy will it 
be if you fully comprehend it. The world is 
full of expedients to render individuals, fami- 
lies and communities virtuous and happy. 
Multitudes are standing at the head of every 
street, crying, "Lo here!" or u lo there!" 
Each one has some specific, some panacea for 
the numerous ills which embitter life. But 
when will these self-styled benefactors come to 
know, that all changes for the better must be 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 179 

the product of inward principle ? In no other 
way is the work to be effected ; there is no 
other hope for the gambler, the drunkard, or 
the libertine. 

Young men, above all others, ought to un- 
derstand that the book of God is not directed 
so much against any particular form of evil in 
the life, as against the indulgence of evil in the 
heart. Its appliances are less for the purple 
spot on the cheek, than for the hidden ulcer 
on the lungs. It is not so intently occupied 
with plucking and destroying the fruit when 
it ripens, as with laying the axe at the root of 
the great upas-tree. Its aim is to crush the 
egg before it breaks out into the viper. To 
correct the deportment of the outer man, it 
operates at once on the soul. 

What you want is to go forth into the world 
with a firm and well-garrisoned heart. This 
will fit you by the steadiness it imparts to 
your feelings, and the correctness it gives to 
your judgment, and the sobriety it throws 
over your anticipations, to travel forward 
safely in the highways and by-paths of life. 
It will act as a curb on every unruly appetite. 



180 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

It will cool the raging fire of ambition. It 
win break the shock of disappointed hope. 
Only become, after this sort, a law to your- 
selves, and you will find no difficulty in sub- 
mitting to the law of God and man. 

Nay, I go farther. Build on this foundation, 
and you will have the promise of the life to 
come, as well as of the life that now is ; for 
good principles are in their very nature eter- 
nal. Such mere conventional rules as men 
often adopt to regulate their intercourse with 
others, are not suited to every stage of exist- 
ence. After a while they become obsolete, 
wax old, and vanish away. But not so the 
principles of inspired rectitude. The man 
who, by studying the Bible, communing with 
God, and relying on the Saviour, becomes a 
law to himself, will act properly in every state 
and condition. External circumstances do not 
affect him. Should he change his clime and 
even his world, he will still be the same man 
in all the essential elements of his character. 

But how is the value of good principles illus- 
trated in actual life. 

You need but little acquaintance with men 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 181 

to see how one's external ways depend on his 
internal feelings. Only let those views which 
the word of God gives of truth and duty be 
cordially received, and become the basis of 
character, and they will produce such stead- 
fastness of purpose, as no fickleness of fashion, 
opinion or pursuits can very seriously influence. 
This will enable a man to stand erect in diffi- 
culty and danger. A character thus formed 
and thus supported will abide the day of trial, 
whatever be the darkness or tribulation such a 
day may bring. 

Only see to it, that conscience is enlightened, 
and passion restrained, and love of truth and 
of right embedded in the soul, and you have 
nothing to fear. Specific rules for the control 
of every individual feeling and the guidance 
of every individual act cannot be given ; and 
if they were they would not be read. The 
world itself could not contain the books which 
must be written to meet such a demand. 
Nothing more is necessary, than general prin- 
ciples cordially adopted by the farmer in the 
field, the mechanic in the shop, the clerk at 
the counter, and the student at the desk, and 

16 



182 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

applied to cases as they occur. Let the mind 
be well imbued with them, and you will scarce- 
ly feel the need of a direct injunction against 
the wine-cup, the gaming table, or the house 
that is on the way to hell. This will extract the 
moisture from the root of poisonous plants, so 
that they will die of themselves. 

It is refreshing to see how men of like pas- 
sions with yourselves, feeling the same weak- 
nesses and plied with the same temptations, 
have maintained their integrity in circumstances 
of great peril, and kept their garments unde- 
filed. Delightful illustrations of the sustaining 
power of real, inward principle, appear on 
every side. Even the fear of death could not 
make the fainting David drink of the water of 
Bethlehem, or keep Daniel from his daily pray- 
ers, or cause Shadrach and his companions to 
fall down before the idols. Men so self-sup- 
ported could eschew pleasure, defy pain, and 
brave the lions' den and the heated furnace. 
So long as their own hearts did not condemn 
them, they had nothing to fear. 

Turn aside for a moment and contemplate 
the character of the beloved Joseph. Few nar- 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 183 

ratives are more instructive, than that of this 
young man, as he dreams of future advance- 
ment, seeks out his brethren on the field of 
Dothan, is carried into Egypt by the Midian- 
ites, becomes the servant of Potiphar, is cast 
into prison, interprets the vision of Pharaoh, 
is clothed in princely robes, and rides in the 
second chariot of the kingdom. "What chequer- 
ed scenes for one to pass through, at his early 
time of life ! Never was virtue more severely 
tried, and never was its triumph more com- 
plete. Mark the noble youth at whatever point 
you will, you see the same lofty, unbending 
principle. This was the reason why he did 
not become dispirited in bondage, or yield to 
the blandishments of an artful woman, or give 
up all for lost within the walls of a prison, or 
feel the intoxication of power when the chain 
of gold was put upon his neck. The Lord was 
with him, and in the best sense of the word, 
he was a law to himself. 

Such conduct shines brightest by contrast. 
Look then a little at the course of an unprin- 
cipled man, or which is nearly the same thing, 
a man without any fixed principle. See how 



184 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

he veers with every change of fortune — to-day 
one thing, and to-morrow another. Only let 
wealth, fame, or office hold out their lure, and 
there is no sacrifice of feeling or conscience which 
he will not make to gain the prize. Trust such 
a one ? Never I Never ! For a time he may 
carry himself with so much apparent propriety 
and move so steadily along, that it seems al- 
most uncharitable to suspect him. But depend 
upon it, nothing is wanting but opportunity, 
and he will betray your confidence. In no in- 
stance is it safe to rely on one who is unsound 
at heart. Just when exigencies arise and firm- 
ness is most required, you will find him giving 
way, and if he become not an Arnold, or a Ju- 
das, it is because he lacks a fit occasion. 

To make the case clearer let me select two 
individuals, known the country over, and with- 
in a few years past numbered with the dead. 
Both of them had a worthy ancestry, both were 
possessed of fine talents, both were highly edu- 
cated, and both were called in the Providence 
of God to act a distinguished part in life. 
Everything promised an equally useful and 
honorable course for each. Their fame was 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 185 

wider than the land which gave them birth. 
Side by side, thej rose from one position of 
honor and trust to another, until no earthly 
glory which men can desire, seemed beyond 
their reach. But here the parallel fails. One 
of these distinguished individuals had good 
principles, the other was unprincipled. 

The first of these men early in life cast off 
the fear of the God of his fathers, renounced 
the Bible as a light from heaven, gloried over 
the spoils of female virtue, killed in a duel a 
man far better than himself, became suspected 
of treason against his country, gradually slunk 
away from all decent society, and when he 
died was carried to the grave and put under 
the clods of the valley in silence and sorrow. 
There was no lamentation over him. No one 
shed a tear, except in pity that such a sun 
should set in clouds so dark and troubled. 

Not so the other. Living a life of unsus- 
pected purity, cultivating habits of the strictest 
temperance, making the Scriptures his daily 
study, never failing to be in his pew on the 
Sabbath, and devoting himself to duty with an 
energy that never gave out, he rose from one 

16* 



186 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

elevation to another, till lie had nothing further 
to wish, and his country nothing greater to 
give. For long years did he steadily hold on 
his way. But at length he died. And when 
it was told that the old man eloquent — or as it 
could better be said, the old man honest — had 
fallen at his post, uttering the significant cry 
" This is the last of earth," a sensation was pro- 
duced, which not only reached to his own New 
England hills, but was felt in all the cities of 
the sunny South, and over all the prairies of 
the mighty West. The first statesmen of the 
land vied with each other in paying honors to 
his memory. 

Names have not been given and names are 
not necessary. Such things cannot be done in 
a corner. But my young friends, can you look 
at these men as they pass on step by step, until 
the day of one terminates in poverty, neglect, 
and despair, while a halo of more than earthly 
glory encircles the dying couch of the other, 
without getting a deeper impression of the im- 
portance of being a law to yourselves. Here 
was indeed a forcible illustration of the value 
of good principles. 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 187 

Shall such examples be lost upon the youth 
of the land ? They can here learn what power 
there is in a good character to carry men safely 
over the rough voyage of life ; while a want 
of such character is sure to send the brightest 
and most brilliant to a dishonored tomb. 

What training then can be compared with 
that of preparing men to be a law to them- 
selves ? You may put a Bible into the hands 
of a young man and charge him to read it, you 
may lay down rules for the government of his 
conduct and beg him to observe them, you 
may set before him the example of good men, 
and exhort him to follow it ; but all will not 
answer unless the principle of right-doing is 
imbibed. There will be hours of forgetfulness 
when that Bible will not be read ; there will 
be assaults of temptation, when those rules will 
be neglected ; and there will be allurements to 
evil, when the example of others will be pow- 
erless. Nothing, nothing, will serve the pur- 
pose, short of fixed and settled principles. 

The eye of friendship cannot follow you, 
as you go out to embark in business, toss 
in ships, and travel in cars, everywhere in 



188 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

danger, everywhere needing protection. If 
God and your own good principles do not 
stand you in stead, fall you will. You must 
be a law to yourselves, in the mart of trade, 
the cabin of the steamboat, and the crowded 
inn, or you will soon make shipwreck of faith 
and a good conscience. No shield less strong 
can quench the darts of Satan and bad men. 

This is the grand safeguard. Thoroughly 
furnish a man with this resource, and he will 
go calmly and steadily forward, breasting the 
storm which would hinder his progress, and 
beating back the waves which threaten to over- 
whelm him. 

Think of Samuel, old and gray-headed in 
the service of God and his country. " Behold," 
says he, " here I am; witness against me be- 
fore the Lord — whose ox have I taken? or 
whose ass have I taken ? or whom have I de- 
frauded ?" Look at Paul as he stands arraign- 
ed before the Jewish Sanhedrim. Lifting him- 
self up in conscious and self-sustaining rectitude, 
he cries out, " Men and brethren, I have lived 
in all good conscience before God until this 
day." Contrast these cases with the dreadful 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 189 

lamentation of the degraded Wolsey : " Had I 
served my God with half the zeal I have serv- 
ed my king, He would not have forsaken me 
in my old age." 

The subject is fully before you, and will you 
not arise and gird yourselves for duty as best you 
may ? 

If I am right in the views now given, what 
you need above all else is truth in the inward 
parts. As for having a kind father always 
near to brace up your minds amid the changes 
and chances of this mortal life, or a fond moth- 
er at hand to watch over you in the " ups and 
downs" of your course like a guardian angel, 
or a sweet sister to cheer away your sadness, 
and encourage you to buffet manfully the bil- 
lows of the world, it is impossible. The 
hours hasten on, when you must be alone 
with nothing but God and good principles for 
your guide. 

Nay ; to some of you this hour has perhaps 
come already. Affectionate parents, a glad- 
some fire-side, and a pleasant home, are things 
of remembrance rather than of present enjoy- 
ment. If such be the case, you have my sym- 



190 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

pathies and my prayers. Who now is to speak 
words of consolation to you when your cheeks 
are covered with tears and your eyelids are 
heavy with pain? But despond not. Only 
confide in God, and adopt good principles, and 
you can get forward without other aid. The 
great Milton put into the mouth of a fallen 
spirit a momentous truth — 

" The mind is its own place and of itself, 
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell in heaven." 

In other words be right yourselves, and this 
will make all right. 

Do you know who was that signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, a member of the 
first Congress, of whom Thomas Jefferson re- 
marked, " He never said a foolish thing in his 
life ?" It was Eoger Sherman, a poor youth, 
brought up to an humble occupation. But he 
was a man, the superstructure of whose char- 
acter was laid on the broad principles of the 
word of Grod ; and this united with native force 
and energy enabled him to rise higher and 
higher, until he could cope successfully with 
the strong and mighty men of the land. 



THE VALUE OF GOOD PRINCIPLES. 191 

This, be assured, is the hinge on which 
everything will turn. The difficulty in getting 
onward in the world is not perhaps where you 
deem it to be. What if competition be earnest, 
and every prize hotly contested ; this is just 
as it should be. In this broad land of free in- 
stitutions, high mountains, deep rivers, and 
warm hearts, we are not to look for the dead 
level of Spain and Portugal. It is all the bet- 
ter, that you are forced out upon an arena, 
where you must try your strength, and measure 
your weapons with young men as full of life 
and zeal as yourselves. But only be true- 
hearted, and some door will open which all the 
world cannot close. If you cannot be one 
thing, be another. A man's being a man does 
not depend on the coat he wears, or the house 
he lives in. 

My young friends, if ever brought into such 
circumstances that losses must be sustained to 
keep the ship afloat, cut away the masts, cast 
over the lading, let the entire cargo go, sooner 
than give up the helm. Or to speak without 
a figure, renounce the favor of the rich and 
powerful, sacrifice health, and even life itself, 



192 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

rather than relinquish one iota of right princi- 
ple, or yield to a single inroad upon a clear 
conscience. Come what will, only hold fast 
your integrity, and you will never be left with- 
out resources. Exalt this inward conscious 
rectitude, and "she shall promote thee; she 
shall bring thee to honor when thou dost em- 
brace her. She shall give to thy head an or- 
nament of grace; a crown of glory shall she 
deliver to thee," 



CHAPTER XL 



COURTESY. 



Nothing is more delightfuj. than to see what 
is pleasant and amiable blended with what is 
just and true. If the little amenities and 
e very-day proprieties of life are not essential 
to a virtuous character, they are requisite to 
give finish and perfection to such a character. 
Men are to be of good report as well as pure, 
lovely as well as honest, kind as well as faith- 
ful. To be right in the weightier matters of 
the law, though confessedly the grand point, 
is no reason for being wrong in things of 
smaller consequence. 

In nature, the tasteful and ornamental are 
sure to be seen mingling with the useful and 
the necessary. As we look over the face of 
creation, we find beauty as well as utility, the 
honey-suckle as well as the sturdy oak, the lily 

17 



194 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

of the valley as well as the cedar of Lebanon. 
God does not merely give us trees for fuel, and 
water to drink, and bread to eat. His bounty 
adds flowers to send forth their fragrance, land- 
scapes to delight the eye, breezes to fan the 
cheek, fruits sweet to the taste and couches to 
lie upon. The world was designed to cheer 
and please us, and not simply to afford us a 
dwelling-place. N 

Why not then group together in human 
character whatever is amiable in temper, with 
whatever is firm in principle? True men, just 
men, honest men and religious men, we hope 
you will all be ; but this need not hinder you 
from exhibiting everything pleasing in dispo- 
sition, and condescending in deportment, and 
kind in intercourse, and complaisant in man- 
ners. Act thus, and you will fulfil the apos- 
tolic injunction, " Be courteous." Pursue such 
a course, and you will be happy yourselves 
and add to the happiness of others. 

What are we to understand by courtesy, as a 
duty of Bible-inculcation ? 

The term implies that kindness and civility 
in social intercourse on which the enjoyment 



COURTESY. 195 

of life so much depends. We speak of it as an 
adornment of one's character, because it never 
fails to render him more pleasing as a com- 
panion, more esteemed as a superior, and more 
engaging as a friend, Cicero has beautifully 
remarked, " It is the property of justice not to 
injure men, and of politeness not to offend 
them." True Christian courtesy unites and 
perfects both these qualities, and thus con- 
structs a reputation as solid as it is lovely, and 
as useful as it is charming. There must be 
minute touches and graceful fillings up, as well 
as bold and strong outlines, to constitute a 
good portrait. The fainter shades will not of 
themselves make a valuable picture, but with- 
out them there cannot be completeness and 
beauty. 

You will hardly do wrong to rank courtesy, 
in its highest and best sense, among the graces 
of the Holy Spirit. If it be less essential to 
the existence of genuine piety in the heart, 
than repentance, or faith, or humility ; it nev- 
ertheless springs from the same source, and is 
to be regarded as a sister in the same family. 
Let the gospel have free course, and it will 



196 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

render men meek and forbearing, and fill their 
bosoms with kindness and condescension. It 
will be very wide of the mark to suppose that 
this book of God has to do merely with the 
grosser vices and the more splendid virtues. 
On the contrary, its aim is to fashion and 
mould the whole man, externally as well as 
internally, by abasing his pride, and thus dis- 
posing him to be kind and amiable and conde- 
scending. We go not a step too far when we 
call it a system of the truest politeness. It 
does what nothing else ever does so well ; it 
leads men not to look on their own things su- 
premely and exclusively, but also on the things 
of others. Seldom are its triumphs more com- 
plete than are witnessed in an habitual tender- 
ness of feeling and kindness of deportment. 

Can it be supposed that this is a matter 
which Christianity overlooks? As for the 
hollow-hearted courtesy which has its place 
and its purpose in the fashionable world, I 
trust you will know how to reckon it at its 
proper value. Nor are you to imagine that, 
even in its better form, it can be a substitute 
for a right spirit and a holy life. But sad will 



COURTESY. 197 

it be for the interests of society, if we weave 
the interstices of our moral net so wide as to 
admit the churl and the supercilious. When 
this is done, be assured, we make the meshes 
wider than the teachings of Christ and the 
apostles make them. 

I hesitate not to say that the readiest way 
for a young man to become truly courteous 
is to drink in the spirit, and act upon the 
principles of the gospel. Besides teaching the 
terms of acceptance with God, and thus secur- 
ing for you an inheritance in the heavens, the 
aim of this whole scheme of mercy is to soften 
whatever is harsh in temper, and smooth what- 
ever is rugged in deportment. An external 
change will in all such cases be arrived at 
through the influence of a previous internal 
change. After having worked its hidden and 
interior renovation, the truth received in love 
will manifest its transforming power in what is 
external and palpable. Be assured, the religion 
of Christ never gains its full conquests while 
the subject of it continues sour and uncivil. 
You may be really pious and not have the 
splendid and hollow politeness of a Chester- 

17* 



198 the spring-time of life. 

field, but you cannot be pious without having 
something of the mind of Christ. 

Yes, my young friends, courtesy is a Bible 
virtue, and it is in the Bible that we find the 
finest examples of its presence and power. 
Look at Abraham as he gives to Lot, though 
his nephew and a man of much fewer years 
than himself, the choice of all the lands before 
them, rather than have strife between their 
respective herdsmen. See him as he welcomes 
the three travellers in the heat of the day, to 
the hospitalities of his tent, and hastens to kill 
for them the fatted calf. Observe his conduct 
as he bows before the sons of Heth to bargain 
with them for a cave, in which to deposit the 
remains of his beloved Sarah. Venerable and 
lovely man ! Was there ever a better exem- 
plification of the true gentleman ? Well did 
the patriarch know what was due from man to 
his fellow-man. 

We see the same thing in the bold, uncom- 
promising apostle to the Gentiles. Though 
firm as a rock where truth and duty were con- 
cerned, it would be easy to note instances in 
which his courtesy was strikingly apparent. 



COURTESY. 199 

Eead his defence before Felix. Study his ad- 
dress in the presence of Agrippa ; mark his 
reply to the interruptions of Festus; or see 
him in his epistle to Philemon, or in his salu- 
tations at the close of his epistle to the Eo- 
mans. Everything proves that in his zeal for 
more vital points, he was not inattentive to the 
graces and proprieties of social intercourse. 
The man of God did not absorb the man of 
humanity. 

But a greater than patriarch and apostle is 
here. To those of you who have not thought 
of the matter in this light, it may seem almost 
strange to be told, that there was never so per- 
fect an illustration of genuine courtesy as that 
given by the blessed Saviour. Were I to fur- 
nish all the instances in which this virtue ap- 
pears, I must transcribe his life. What a ray 
of softness and beauty did his unparalleled con- 
descension shed over all his conduct! Notice 
him as he takes a towel, girds himself, and 
washes the disciples' feet, saying, " Ye call me 
Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am." 
Draw near and mark how kindly he restores 
the young man just raised to life, to his wid- 



200 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

owed mother. Hear him cry out, in the kind- 
ness of his heart, "Come unto me, all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest." 

Was there ever such courtesy as this ? No 
matter how poor and wretched w r ere the appli- 
cants for his favors ; no matter if the children 
of affliction besieged his retreat, and broke in 
"upon those hours which he needed for food 
and rest ; no matter if publicans and women 
that had been sinners thronged around him, 
the blessed Saviour had a kind look and an 
encouraging word for them all. Wearied and 
toil-worn as he often was, he was still ready 
to hearken to the sighing of the prisoner, and 
to raise the suppliant from the dust. 

Such is true courtesy. And can we over- 
estimate its value to the world f 

I have already told you that you must not 
exalt condescension and civility to an equality 
with the more essential characteristics of truth 
and integrity. Much less must you for one 
moment suffer any such embellishment of the 
outer-man, to take the place of genuine, heart- 
felt piety towards God. Yet while this is ad- 



COURTESY. 201 

mitted, be careful not to conclude that you can 
be cold, and distant, and overbearing, with im- 
punity. This would not only greatly lessen 
your influence over friends, and neighbors, 
and dependents, but would be sure to produce 
bad effects on your own minds. 

You have already seen enough of the world 
to know that many good and trustworthy men 
fail sadly at this very point. No one doubts 
the sincerity of their religious profession. No 
one feels a want of confidence in the upright- 
ness of their dealings. But having said this, 
there is nothing more that we can say. There 
is such a want of kindness in their temper, and 
conciliation in their deportment, that the good 
which they realty have, is in danger of being 
evil spoken of. Such characters may be likened 
to a diamond in its rough, unwrought state. It 
has value even then, but you must give it pol- 
ish before its intrinsic lustre can fully appear. 
Eobert Hall once said of a pious friend, "he 
cannot know how offensive such conduct is, or 
as a religious man he would endeavor to cor- 
rect it." This is the grand defect of mul- 
titudes. 



202 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

No man, whatever his standing in more 
essential things, can afford to dispense with a 
courteous behavior. Take away what was 
manifest of this virtue from Moses and Daniel 
of the Old Testament — Paul and John of the 
New — Washington and Wilberforce in the 
world, and Leighton and Legh Eichmond in 
the church, and what a serious inroad do you 
make upon their reputation? They might 
perhaps have been good men and true at 
heart, without any such embellishment. But 
think of any of them as stiff or sour or super- 
cilious, and you detract amazingly from their 
worth, and from the power of being useful 
which they possessed. 

I am confident, my young friends, there is 
more importance to be attached to these re- 
marks than is commonly supposed. It is not 
every one that looks below the surface of 
things. Demetrius might have had a good re- 
port of all men, for the lesser virtues that clus- 
tered around his name, though his attachment 
to the truth, for the truth's sake, could be 
appreciated by comparatively a very few. 
Nor is the fact that a man makes no pre- 



COURTESY. 203 

tensions to piety any excuse for his not being 
amiable, or kind, or complaisant. We may 
wish that he was not only almost but alto- 
gether a sincere Christian, and yet his failing 
to be such is no good reason why he should 
treat his friends and neighbors with disregard. 
Courtesy is useful even when it has no founda- 
tion in the fear and love of God. This it is 
that renders a superior amiable, an equal agree- 
able, or an inferior acceptable. It encourages 
the timid, soothes the turbulent, softens the 
fierce, and distinguishes a society of civilized 
men from a horde of barbarians. If we could 
look into the secret troubles of life, we should 
find that no small part of them have their ori- 
gin in frowns and expressions of contempt. 

Let me not be misunderstood. Kindness 
and courtesy, as they exist in a human bosom, 
are not an exhaustless spring, but a limited 
reservoir, which must be replenished from the 
fountain of Divine grace, or it will frequently 
dry up. No sufficient motive for the steady 
and uninterrupted love of others, apart from 
the principles of the gospel, can be found, 
either in ourselves or in them. The poet may 



204 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

beautifully compare cordial benevolence to the 
ripples of a lake stirred by the falling pebble, 
which is sure to form circles widening and 
spreading, till they reach the farthest shore; 
but the question is, what is to ensure the con- 
tinuance of this healthful motion ? In the cold 
world where friends die, and age saddens the 
spirit, and disappointment benumbs the sensi- 
bilities, it is difficult to originate the motion 
of the surrounding waters. "We must love men 
for Christ's sake, or we shall be in danger of 
not loving them permanently and effectively. 

The exercise of a spirit of courtesy is use- 
ful, even though it never rise to the dignity 
of a Christian grace. Kind words, and pleas- 
ant looks, and a condescending demeanor cost 
but little, and yet no one can estimate their 
happy effect upon all the relations and condi- 
tions of life. A charm is thus thrown around 
the intercourse of the fireside, the shop, the 
exchange and the senate-chamber. This is a 
cheap way of securing respect, and augment- 
ing the circle of one's usefulness. Let a person 
be himself rightly disposed, and it can be no 
hard task for him to give a nod of friendly 






COURTESY. . 205 

recognition to the humblest individual that he 
meets along the street. The outlay here is 
very small in proportion to the largeness of 
the return. 

Such a course is sure to advance the comfort 
of those around you. It is cheering often to 
see how an approving smile, or a word of con- 
dolence, goes to the heart of men oppressed by 
poverty and borne down to the earth by sor- 
row. Shall such balm be withheld? Did 
those in the higher walks of life realize how 
much of light and peace they may thus dis- 
pense, we should see them courteous out of 
pure charity. On every side are to be found 
those whose lot in life is far from being easy. 
Incessant toil, homely fare, and little or no 
prospect of ever rising to a condition of com- 
petency, are a load upon their spirits, which 
they have hardly strength to bear. Shall 
those in better circumstances never speak to 
them in accents of kindness ? This would be 
cruel indeed. 

Let any one envelop himself in an atmos- 
phere of courtesy, and he will in this very way 
increase his usefulness ten-fold. It is not so 

18 



206 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

much the labor he performs as the temper he 
exhibits, not so much the money he gives as 
the condescension he shows, not so much the 
words he uses as the tones he employs, that 
wins for him the honorable title of the poor 
man's friend. 

And as this course does good to others, so 
it is sure to benefit oneself. No one cherishes 
a spirit of true courtesy and is careful to act it 
out, without finding it tributary to his own en- 
joyment. It did Abraham as much good per- 
haps as it did his guests to prepare them a 
repast, and then stand by to see them eat 
under the shade of the tree. Some feeble old 
man receives pleasure, when youth and talent 
and wealth rise up to give him place, but the 
pleasure is always reciprocal. If a child be 
comforted by words of kindness, the person 
uttering those words is scarcely less so. What 
is thus sent out in the form of condescension 
is sure to come back in the form of augmented 
peace and self-respect. But, on the contrary, 
be supercilious and overbearing, and you as 
surely plant thorns in your own pillow, as 
you diminish the comfort of others. Such a 



COURTESY. 207 

man is always and of necessity an unhappy 
man. 

It is said of the father of the late Mary Lyon, 
Principal of the Mount Holyoke Seminary, 
that he was never known to speak an unkind 
word. No wonder that we find it added ; " he 
was greatly beloved by all his acquaintances, 
and was frequently sent for to visit the afflicted 
and sorrowful." Such an one is fitted to move 
about as an angel of mercy, among the abodes 
of sickness and the hovels of poverty. 

In view of such considerations, will you not 
resolve at this early day to be courteous ? 

There are two ways for you to pass through 
the world. You may treat everybody kindly, 
high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, 
and feel that all are brethren of one common 
household, though some of them are rough 
and uncultivated and care-worn ; or you may 
shut up your sympathies in your own bosoms, 
and live as if you felt no concern in the wel- 
fare of two thirds of the race. But what, as it 
respects comfort and usefulness and a good 
name, will be the difference between these op- 
posite courses ? The first will fill your bosoms 



208 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

with peace and surround you with tokens of 
regard, while the latter will render you as 
wretched as you really, though it may be un- 
wittingly, render others. 

To a young man just commencing his ca- 
reer, a kind and courteous disposition is worth 
more than rubies. Some of you will be me- 
chanics, coming into business contact with those 
who have ships to build and mansions to erect. 
Some of you will be merchants, seeing hun- 
dreds of faces in a day, and among them peo- 
ple of all tempers and constitutions. Some of 
you will be lawyers, physicians, and ministers, 
having to do with every grade and walk of 
life. A uniformly kind and conciliating de- 
portment will open a path before you. It will 
win confidence and success. The opposite will 
leave you alone and in penury. 

This matter may not appear to you now pre- 
cisely as it will, when more years have passed 
over your heads. But if the experience of 
those who have lived longer and seen more of 
the world, is of any value, they can give you 
testimony which you should highly prize. 
There is no need of being false-hearted, or of 



COURTESV. 209 

expressing sympathy which you do not really 
feel. All you have to do is to act upon the 
large Bible-principles of good- will to all men, 
and you will be courteous sincerely and of 
choice. To this you are bound by considera- 
tions, which you cannot disregard without 
wronging yourselves. 

There is an incident recorded of Zachariah 
Fox, one of the princely merchants of Liver- 
pool, which you would do well to lay up in 
your memory. A friend asked the venerable 
man one day, by what means he had come to 
realize so ample a fortune? His simple and 
sententious reply was, " By one article alone, 
in which thou too mayest deal if thou choosest 
— civility." Forget not the advice, and while 
you remember the word, be sure to practise 
the thing. The young man of uniform civility 
will be almost sure to outstrip his fellows in 
the great race of life. 

Begin right in this respect. Let the child 
in his father's house be uniformly kind and 
pleasant. Let the boy at school be considerate 
of the rights and feelings of his companions. 
Let the apprentice, the clerk and the student 

18* 



210 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

learn to treat everybody with civility. Let 
the man just commencing business, have a 
pleasant look and word for all; and while 
they thus diffuse happiness on every side, they 
will be sure to augment their own enjoyment. 



CHAPTER XII. 

MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 

Education, it has been often and justly said, 
is to the mind what sculpture is to a block of 
marble. No illustration could be more intelli- 
gible and appropriate. The figure, and veins, 
and colors, lie in the marble, but it requires the 
skill of the artist to bring them fully and prop- 
erly out. Equally necessary is culture to de- 
velope the latent energies of the soul. Neither 
the marble nor the mind will exhibit the qual- 
ities which inherently exist in it, if left to lie 
in its native and unwrought state. 

There are points, however, in which the 
analogy, beautiful and instructive as it is, 
ceases to hold good. The marble may be 
wrought equally well at all seasons, but there 
is only one favorable season for the improve- 
ment of the mind. This is the work of youth, 



212 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

and not of gray hairs. If men are ever to be- 
come distinguished in any branch of science, 
or any useful and honorable calling, the foun- 
dation must generally be laid in early life. 
The exceptions are so few as to weigh nothing 
against an established rule. It is in the morn- 
ing of one's days that the mind is expansive, 
the heart impressible, the memory retentive, 
and that habits of application are easily formed. 
This is the golden period, when the seeds of fu- 
ture eminence must be sowed. A life, the bright 
and cheerful part of which is spent in idleness 
and folly, is almost sure to end in ignorance 
and misery. 

My theme is, the cultivation of the mind, 
and I have no fear of overstating its impor- 
tance. It relates to the enlargement of the 
scope of thought, memory and reflection, or in 
other words, to the investing of man with his 
own appropriate dignity and worth. We call 
the process by which it is done, education, but 
by this, we mean not so much the giving of 
lessons as the learning of them — not the pour- 
ing in but the drawing out. Instruction is 
often useful and in some cases perhaps indis- 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 213 

pensable. But the highest idea of education 
is to teach a youth to put forth his own ener- 
gies and deveiope his inherent capabilities. 

Two points claim attention — the advanta- 
ges of knowledge and the means of acquiring 
it. 

Among these advantages may be reckoned 
the enjoyment it affords. You have heard again 
and again, that the hill of science is steep and 
rugged, so that no one ever reaches the sum- 
mit without toil. This is true, but it should 
not be a discouragement. Man, we are all 
aware, is so constituted as to find his present 
happiness in the exercise of those powers with 
which God has endowed him. Drones, physi- 
cal or mental, know not what real pleasure is. 
It is only by labor, labor of the mind, or labor 
of the hands, or both united, that we can attain 
to the dignity of which we are capable. "We 
must exert ourselves or lead a low, dreary, un- 
happy life. 

Be not disheartened because the Temple to 
which you aspire, stands on an eminence and 
can be reached only by effort. The very 
struggle to get there will prove its own reward. 



214 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Think what pure enjoyment must arise from 
so cultivating the mind, that it shall be able 
to know something of itself, of the laws of the 
universe, and especially of God and Jesus 
Christ whom he has sent. This will be a rich 
recompense for every pain endured, and every 
trial borne. The happiness enjoyed by an in- 
telligent American citizen, acquainted with 
himself, his country, the world, and the Saviour, 
must be immeasurably superior to that of the 
drowsy Hottentot or the narrow-minded sav- 
age. 

There is no earthly gratification like that to 
be derived from mental improvement. To be 
perpetually out in the world, employed in 
agricultural, mechanical, or mercantile pursuits, 
is impossible ; and were it possible, it would 
be undesirable. Man has something to do on 
earth besides to eat and drink, and marry, and 
build a house, and die. Life has seasons when 
the business of the field, the shop, and the 
counter is interrupted — seasons of relaxation, 
of sickness, and of old age. At such times, 
how dreary existence must prove if the mind 
has been neglected. But let a man have a 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 215 

disposition for study and improvement, with 
valuable books and stores of knowledge, and 
time will scarcely ever hang heavy on his 
hands. Look around and tell me, who are the 
young that seem to have most rational enjoy- 
ment from day to day ? Who are they that 
are most wisely laying up in store against the 
time when health may fail, and friends disap- 
pear, and riches take wings and fly away. 
Who are they that are best qualifying them- 
selves to meet the exigencies, bear the infirmi- 
ties, and endure the loneliness of old age. If 
you would be thoroughly equipped for the un- 
avoidable scenes and allotments of life, you 
must have resources within yourselves. 

But, again, a love of knowledge is a security 
against vicious indulgences. It would, I readily 
admit, be going too far to say, that high men- 
tal cultivation is never associated with intem- 
perance and profaneness and dishonesty. The 
opposite of this has sometimes been found to 
be the fact. But it is safe to affirm, and the 
history of young men will bear me out in the 
affirmation, that a love of study is generally an 
effectual preservative from low vices. There 



216 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

is something in the cultivation and improve- 
ment of the intellectual faculties, adapted in 
its very nature to take a person off from the 
practice of vulgar transgressions. The reason 
is, he has other and better sources of amuse- 
ment. 

This is a point which will justify and recom- 
pense careful inquiry. When did you ever 
hear of a boy at school, distinguished for dili- 
gence and success, who gave his teachers trou- 
ble and disturbed his companions by petty 
mischief. Are the young men in college who 
break the laws, and make it necessary for their 
parents to call them home, generally at the 
head of their class ? Do we find apprentices 
and clerks who love books and are fond of 
mental improvement, losing time by dissipa- 
tion or extracting money from the owner's 
chest? That some such cases may occur, is 
perhaps a fact, but that they are not common, 
is well known. 

Induce a young man to love books, and you 
build a wall between him and the theatre, and 
the dram-shop, or the gaming-table. His va- 
cant hours are now occupied, and this of itself 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 21? 

goes far to secure him from the haunts of open 
and shameless iniquity. There is provision 
here for him to gratify his social feelings, and 
this puts up a bar to the corrupting influ- 
ences of bad company. It is easy for one that 
is given to reading and reflection, to spend his 
evenings comfortably by his own fireside, and 
in the quiet of his own bed-chamber. What 
enchantment has wine, or cards, or dancing, 
or boisterous joy, for a mind like his? You 
could scarcely make him more fully wretched 
than by dooming him to waste hour after hour 
in listening to the songs of the drunkard, or 
joining in the carousals of the profane. 

Next and only next to religion itself, is the 
security offered you, my young friends, by the 
love of knowledge. Learn to expand your 
minds and cultivate your taste by conversing 
with the good and great of past generations ; 
and you will find that those pleasures of sin 
which are but for a season, are losing their 
power to ensnare you. Form the habit of 
employing your moments of leisure in perusing 
valuable books, and especially the Bible, and I 
almost dare promise that you will never be 

19 



218 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

found drinking with the drunken, or breaking 
the Sabbath with the ungodly. This is forti- 
fying yourselves internally against external 
foes. 

Let me name another advantage in the ac- 
quisition of knowledge. It fits men for the great 
duties of life. 

That a cultivated mind gives its possessor 
immense superiority over the uncultivated, 
needs no proof. Let me ask why some one 
individual in a town, village, or neighborhood 
has such weight of character and influence? 
Why is he consulted on all important occa- 
sions, and put forward in every business that 
requires capacity ? Why is he chosen as the 
arbiter of so many disputes, the executor of so 
many wills, the guardian of so many orphan 
children ? Much of this respect may be paid 
him for the piety, the probity, and the urisul- 
lied integrity of his character ; but who does 
not know that mere goodness, separated from 
intelligence, never qualifies a man to transact 
important business ? 

There is no reason why even menial occupa- 
tions should be dissociated from mental im- 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 219 

provement. The ploughman is worthy of re- 
spect, but that ploughman might become a 
man of science, and understand the nature of 
soils, and learn how to make two blades of 
grass grow where only one grew before. The 
individual, who, spade in hand, digs the canal 
and throws up the embankment for a railroad, 
ought to be treated with regard ; but that very 
individual might perhaps fit himself for the 
higher work of engineering, and thus lay out 
the road on which he now toils. The person 
who manages the spindle and weaves the cloth 
we wear, is to be prized ; but that same person 
might, it is probable, rise to understand the 
nature of the machinery he works, and super- 
intend its erection. This would be adding to 
the domain of matter, the higher and nobler 
domain of mind. The hands that stir and the 
feet that move are thus brought under the con- 
trol of the more exalted, though at the same 
time more quiet and feeble eye. Thought and 
intelligence come in, not to supersede, but to 
elevate simple physical efforts. 

The two questions asked by one of our most 
distinguished presidents, were first, is he hon- 



220 THE SPRING-TIME OP LIFE. 

est? and secondly, is lie capable? Never 
should one of these questions in your case be 
answered in the affirmative, while the other 
must be answered in the negative — what you 
have, will not at all compensate for what you 
have not. Dream not then of being anything 
more than hewers of wood and drawers of 
water, without study and improvement. The 
average of intelligence is advancing on every 
side, and if you would not be left ignobly be- 
hind in the hotly contested race, you must rise 
and quit yourselves like men. 

Let me only add, — these advantages of knowl- 
edge are especially felt in this free land. 

Whatever the value of mental cultivation in 
other and less favored countries, it is sure here 
to command a high price. No blighting shad- 
ow of either church or state despotism falls 
upon the face of these broad fields. With us, 
the Bible is an open book, and thought is un- 
trammelled, and speech submits to no shackles, 
and everything holds out incentives to enter- 
prise and effort. The humblest youth among 
us, may by the blessing of God, work his way 
to the most exalted positions. Only exert 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 221 

yourselves, and there is nothing to shut you 
out from the Pulpit, the Bar, the Legislative 
Assembly and the Presidential chair. 

How different in this respect from the rest 
of the world! At this very moment, three 
fourths of even Christendom itself lie bleeding 
in the dust, under the iron heel of kingly and 
priestly despotism. Of what avail is it that 
here one and there another feels the burden of 
his condition and sighs for the coming of a 
day of deliverance. Every movement for free- 
dom, seems thus far, only to strengthen and 
tighten the chains which bind the nations, body 
and soul, to the car of despotic power. But, 
blessed be God, there is one land, where tyr- 
anny never has, and we fondly trust, never 
will be able to set up her throne. Through 
the length and breadth of these United States, 
mind is disenthralled, and the wisest and best 
may hope to gain the prize. 

But it is time to pass from the advantages 
of knowledge to the means of acquiring it. 
These are many, and I may specify conversation 
as one of them. 

It is surprising what an amount of useful in- 

19* 



222 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

formation, a person may thus gain, without 
going a step out of his way. Only be willing 
to admit that you are not as wise as some oth- 
ers, and be ever ready to gain knowledge, and 
you will be astonished at the rapidity of your 
own acquisitions. Kuth's gleaning among the 
sheaves of Boaz did not prove more profitable 
than yours will be, if you are equally faithful. 
Count, as you would gold, the society of men 
of large experience, of sound judgment and of 
close observation, and your minds will be en- 
riched by the overflowings of theirs. A single 
hour, thus spent, will often make impressions 
which will last a lifetime. 

As iron sharpeneth iron, so does a man the 
countenance of his friend. Here you not only 
get the information you need, but you get it 
sent home to the feelings and the heart by the 
looks, the tone, and the gestures of another. 
If anything is obscure, you can ask for further 
illustration — if anything is misapprehended, 
you can have it satisfied. A double benefit is 
secured in this way ; for instead of impoverish- 
ing the man on whom you thus draw, you are 
constantly increasing his resources. By im- 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 223 

parting from his fuller treasures, he not only 
blesses you, but he takes the readiest way the 
more to enrich himself. 

Nor is it necessary, in order to learn from 
others, that they should be more intelligent 
than yourselves. It is very safe to say, that 
there are subjects, on which the most ignorant 
men know more than you do, and can com- 
municate what it would be well for you to se- 
cure. Sir Walter Scott has somewhere told 
us, that the most stupid groom that ever took 
care of his horse, could give him ideas which 
he highly prized. This remark may seem ex- 
travagant, but you will find it to be literally 
true. A very intellectual clergyman once de- 
clared that he got much valuable information 
from the crew of a vessel, in which he was 
often a passenger. It is only necessary for 
you to keep your eyes and ears open, and you 
will be learning continually and from every- 
body. 

Beading too will afford you a valuable op- 
portunity for mental improvement. Books of 
biography, history, and science, lie in your 
way, and for a few shillings you can keep 



224 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

yourselves well supplied. There is no good 
reason, why any young man should be igno- 
rant of the world within him, or the world 
around him. "Without any very great outlay 
of either time or money, he can garner up 
stores of knowledge of incomparably more 
worth than houses or fields. Let his heart be 
engaged in it, and he will find that his loose 
pennies, and his unoccupied hours will fully 
suffice. It is possible for the most diligent 
day -laborer, thus to become an intelligent, well- 
informed man. The niceties of grammar, and 
language, he may not have at command ; but 
you cannot spend thirty minutes in his com- 
pany, without finding that in strong, rugged 
thought, and sound practical sense, he is thor- 
oughly educated. 

Never plead want of leisure for the neglect 
of mental cultivation. What, pray, is time 
given you for, but that you may enrich your 
minds with stores of knowledge, and thus rise 
to the true dignity of rational and immortal 
beings ? Learn to gather up the fragments of 
life that nothing be lost. In addition to this, 
remember that you have one whole day in 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 225 

every seven, to be devoted expressly to the 
great work of intellectual and spiritual im- 
provement. Never say, that you lack oppor- 
tunity for reading and study. With an entire 
day every week, allotted to this very purpose, 
and such books at hand as are suitable for peru- 
sal, there is nothing to hinder you from making 
great progress in mental development. This 
will be so emphatically if you make the Bible 
your chosen volume. A wise and good man 
has said, that there is more real sublimity, 
more pure morality, more true history, and 
more genuine eloquence here than in all other 
books. Bead the Scriptures if you would ever 
attain to the dignity of intelligent, divinely 
illuminated men. 

Much, however, let me add, depends on the 
manner of reading. To skim over the mere 
surface of volume after volume, without paus- 
ing to think and examine, is adapted to weaken 
rather than strengthen the mind. Genuine 
mental vigor was never acquired in this way. 
Take time to understand, to compare, to make 
observations, and lay up. You had better be 
half a year in thoroughly mastering the con- 



226 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

tents of a good book, than to be a weekly cus- 
tomer at some library, whose numerous works 
you turn over, without comprehending or re- 
membering them. Those are not usually the 
best things that float on the surface of the 
ocean. Pearls have to be dived for. They 
are taken up from the very bottom. 

But, above all, frequent and deep reflection is 
a happy method of cultivating the mind. 

You must accustom yourselves to ponder 
what you hear and what you see, and your 
profiting will appear. Without such a habit, 
though you should become in some sense 
learned, you can never be really intelligent 
and capable. Eemember, it is not after all so 
much what a man knows, as it is his ability to 
apply that knowledge to practical purposes, 
that fits him to be useful in the world. To be 
a mere book-worm or a kind of walking-libra- 
ry, is not enough. There is such a thing as 
taking the thoughts, which you gather from 
friends and from volumes, and making them 
your own by a sort of mental amalgamation, 
and happy is the j^outh who is able to do so. 
This will enable him to stand on the shoulders 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 227 

of others, while yet he stands there in his own 
native strength. 

It is easy to see the application of these re- 
marks to a thousand recurring cases. Here is 
a student with the annals of the world before 
him, exhibiting every possible view of human 
nature, and every conceivable variety of hu- 
man character; — here is a diligent reader of 
the lives of his fellow-men, affording the most 
valuable instruction on every point, and re- 
vealing a Scylla here and a Charybdis there ; — 
here is a skilful mechanic engaged in a work 
which calls into constant employment the sci- 
ence of figures and numbers ; — here too is an 
industrious farmer, daily moving about among 
the most striking illustrations of Divine power 
and goodness; — but they have no habits of re- 
flection, no spirit of inquiry, no disposition to 
observe. This reduces their occupation from 
all that is elevated and soul-ennobling, to a 
species of mere physical drudgery. These 
men would be different men, if they could be 
brought to think and reason. 

None of you are aware, until you make the 
effort, of what you are really capable. Some 



228 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

years ago, there lived in England an humble 
shoemaker, whose heart God had touched with 
pity for the heathen world. Unaided and 
alone he commenced the great work of self-im- 
provement. As he toiled from day to day on 
his lowly seat ; he had books and dictionaries 
around him, and often in his little garden 
would he be seen standing motionless for an 
hour at a time. Ah, who can tell what mighty 
impulses were beginning to move upon that 
consecrated mind. Before he left his country 
for India, he could read the Bible in four dif- 
ferent languages, and he lived to be a blessing 
to thousands. Such was Carey the missionary ; 
and multitudes might go and do likewise. 

These are simple means, open to you all, and 
yet they are sufficient to secure the great end 
proposed. Adopt some such suggestions and 
act upon them steadily and perseveringly, and 
there is nothing to hinder your daily improve- 
ment. Amid all the changes and uncertainties 
of life, you may constantly advance in mental 
vigor and moral worth. Ignorant, uninformed 
men you will not be, unless you doom your- 
selves to such disgrace. Keep your eyes and 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 229 

ears open. Eemember that knowledge is the 
food of the mind. Be resolved, God helping you, 
that you will not live in the world as so many 
negligently do to their own unspeakable loss. 

Let me exhort you then, beloved youth, in 
understanding he men. 

Knowledge is within your reach. The crown 
is a tempting one ; and pretend not that there 
is anything in your circumstances to hinder 
you from winning and wearing it. Spurn the 
unworthy thought. What if your pursuits are 
all of the class called industrial ? There is no 
reason to be found in this fact, why the mind 
should not all the while become deeper and 
clearer and fuller, like a river on its way to the 
ocean. 

Examples of success are before you. Think 
of the more than one thousand competitors, 
among the working classes of Scotland, for the 
three prizes on the great subject of Sabbath sanc- 
tification. These, like yourselves, were laboring 
men. Week after week found them at the 
loom, the mill, and the anvil. Several of those 
essays have been published, and they have 
been read too by multitudes in various parts 

20 



230 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

of Christendom. For soundness of views, force 
of language, and conclusiveness of reasoning, 
I scarcely know any treatises on the subject 
more worthy of perusal. This shows what 
can be done by men in the laboring walks of 
life. But we need not go out of our own coun- 
try for illustrations of the same fact. It is de- 
lightful to know that some of the best and 
most useful members of Congress we have ever 
had, went to that august assembly from the 
corn-field, and the shoemaker's shop. Nay I 
may come nearer home. Some years ago, 
New Jersey had an able and useful man in the 
Senate of the United States, who at twenty- 
one years of age, scarcely knew his letters. 
The path is open. None need despair. 

But suppose no such bright prospect awaits 
you. Suppose you should never ride upon 
the high places of the earth. Suppose you 
live and die plain, untitled men. Is it nothing 
for yourselves, nothing for your friends, noth- 
ing for your country, and nothing for your 
God, that you should be intelligent? There 
could not be a grander mistake. Mind is a 
spark from the great Sun of the universe, and 



MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 231 

should be cherished for its own sake, as well 
as for its genial influence on others. 

Be emulous then of constant self-improve- 
ment. Let the Sabbath be always to you a 
day of study and reflection. Be familiar with 
the Holy Scriptures. Eead the history of past 
generations. Acquaint yourselves with the 
lives of the worthy dead. Seek the companion- 
ship of wise and good men. Especially walk 
with God as did Enoch. Lean upon the bosom 
of the Saviour as. did John. Thus will your 
minds be expanded with the noblest thoughts, 
and when you pass from the present world, 
you will enter upon a career of improvement, 
which shall never end. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE. 

Said Hannah More to a female friend, who 
was watching by her dying bed, "I love you 
fervently, and it will be pleasant to you twen- 
ty years hence, to remember that I told you 
so in my last moments." This was a tender 
and touching remark. But for aught we can 
know to the contrary, the venerable woman 
might have spoken to her sympathizing com- 
panion, of twenty centuries to come with the 
same propriety as of twenty years. 

That faculty of the mind which we call 
memory, and by which the ideas of past ob- 
jects are so retained as never to lose their 
impression, is one of the noblest of human 
endowments. Without the ability of thus 
keeping what we gain, and using acquisitions 
already made as helps to further acquisitions, 
there could scarcely be any such thing as men- 



MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE. 233 

tal improvement. This is the basis of all edu- 
cation, the ground-work of all real progress. 
What we need is the power of treasuring up 
facts, reasonings, and conclusions once possess- 
ed, as a means of further advancement, and a 
nucleus around which other accumulations 
shall gather. Were it not for the existence 
of such a faculty, the effort to gain knowledge 
would be as fruitless, as pouring water into a 
sieve. 

It is not pretended that memory has any 
such power as to be able at will to exhibit all 
its treasures ready for use. This is not the 
prerogative of man, or perhaps of any other 
created being. What we mean is that mental 
impressions are in themselves so indelible, as 
to be capable of reproduction, by concurring 
circumstances, in all their freshness and force. 
This is the aspect of the matter which I deem 
of most practical importance. It tells every 
young man that the whole future must take 
its complexion from the present, and that his 
state hereafter will be nothing else than his 
state now, carried forward uninterruptedly and 
interminably. 

20* 



234 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

1. What light is afforded us, on this subject, 
by the nature of the mind itself? 

By mind I here intend simply that intellec- 
tual or intelligent power in man, by which he 
considers, reflects, reasons, and judges. But 
does not this imply memory, and memory in 
exercise ? Human life is a chain made up of 
links, thus curiously fastened together and 
constituting an indivisible whole. One im- 
pression runs always into another, and to live 
forever is but to think forever, and remember 
forever. This faculty of recollction and asso- 
ciation seems, so far as we can determine, to 
be inseparable from rationality and accounta- 
bility. Everything must be remembered that 
has had any influence in giving shape to char- 
acter. Ahab will never forget his interview 
with the Prophet, in the garden of Naboth. 
Paul will always retain a vivid recollection of 
his visit to Damascus. 

Hence it is, that life past, present, and fu- 
ture, is only so many portions of the same 
indivisible thing. That great mystery of man, 
which, for want of a better name, we call con- 
scious existence, has a beginning and a pro- 



MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE. 235 

gress, but it can never have a termination. 
Started once on its high career, it must keep 
on unless arrested by the fiat of its Author. 
The vessel once afloat can never slacken her 
sail, but must pass out of the river of time into 
the ocean of eternity. This is the law of one's 
mental existence. The mind advances from 
stage to stage, without ever breaking the 
thread of its being, or losing what it has 
gained. 

But can we conceive of a perfect identity, in 
the midst of such changes as these, without 
memory ? Take from man the power of recol- 
lecting what is past, and you bring him down 
from his high estate, and reduce him to a con- 
dition little above that of the fowls of the air, 
or the beasts of the field. It is his distinct, 
peculiar prerogative to possess self-conscious- 
ness — a knowledge of his own feelings — the 
faculty of retrospection. The ox, by a sort of 
natural instinct, may "know his owner, and 
the ass his master's crib;" but that kind of 
recollection, which consists in pondering the 
scenes of one's earlier days, and renewing to 
himself the impression of by-gone events, is 



236 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

peculiar to man. It belongs solely to him to 
take cognizance of the beatings of his own 
heart, the impulses of his own soul, the fore- 
shado wings of his own destiny. Without this, 
he could not be an intelligent, responsible, 
moral agent. Without it, he could not be a 
man. 

It is memory that so connects life here and 
life hereafter, as to render it really one life. 
Whatever changes take place, they are merely 
relative and circumstantial. When the child 
becomes a man, he is found to have brought 
his early recollections with him ; when the man 
puts on gray hairs, he retains the impressions 
of the years that are past ; and when the same 
man passes into the world of spirits, he takes 
with him the remembrance of what occurred 
on earth. There is no break in his being — no 
sundering it into fragments. The body may 
change again and again, as it passes from in- 
fancy to old age, but still remain the very 
same body, and so it appears to be with the 
mind. In every alteration, there is identity 
of being and perpetual enlargement. One set 
of impressions comes in to add to the tide of 



MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE. 237 

another, until in eternity existence itself be- 
comes one vast, comprehensive, overpowering 
memory. 

A temporary oblivion, however entire, proves 
nothing against the general permanence of men- 
tal impressions. How often is it the case, that 
at some unexpected moment, and by means 
which no one can explain, we recall the images 
of things for a long time apparently gone from 
tis ? The idea had once existed in the mind, 
and nothing was requisite but the moving of 
some invisible chord to bring it fully to life 
again. Nor does it militate against our theory, 
that the memory often becomes weakened by 
sickness or old age. This is very true, but 
how do we know that it is the mind, in such 
cases, which fails, or only the organs by means 
of which the mind now operates? These in- 
stances seem to be proof of the failure of the 
outer, and not of the inner man. 

All that we know of the nature of mind leads 
us to conclude that, what is once written on it 
can never be effaced. For a long season to- 
gether, words and phrases and detached sen- 
tences may so disappear, as to become nearly 



238 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

or quite illegible. But sooner or later a flood 
of light will be poured on those faded letters, 
clear as that which shone on the Jewish breast- 
plate. 

2. It is important to inquire, how well-ascer- 
tained facts bear upon the point before us? 

You have already seen that mind could not 
be what it is, or act as it does, were not mem- 
ory one of its essential attributes. Thus much 
is clear. But the question arises, Is there any- 
thing in the incidents of real life, which tends 
to confirm our reasonings in relation to this 
matter? And I answer, Yes, there are thou- 
sands of fully authenticated cases, which go to 
show that every mental impression, once exist- 
ing, may be revived again. If loss there be, 
it is not a perpetual loss. Like a letter written 
with invisible ink, under favorable circum- 
stances every sentence may be brought dis- 
tinctly out. 

Something may be learned on this subject, 
from the phenomena of sleep. "When you 
stand by the couch of a friend, at the hour of 
midnight, it seems to you, at first view, as if 
his intellect was actually extinct. You see no 



MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE. 239 

motion, you hear no speech, you perceive no 
trace of thought. So far as consciousness of 
passing events, or intellectual activity is con- 
cerned, he lies like a clod, or at most, a mere 
breathing lump of clay. Where is the mind, 
the reflection, the memory now ? But let that 
friend be aroused, and all he ever knew is fresh 
before him, and thought moves on with all its 
previous power. This seems to solve the prob- 
lem. So may the sick man, the insane man, 
the superannuated man, the dead man, awake 
to a full realization of whatever had gone before. 
That the mind actually retains what it re- 
ceives and keeps what it gets, there is abundant 
reason to believe. It would be easy to occupy 
hours in citing cases, described by writers on 
mental and moral science, all favoring this 
conclusion. Something occurs to quicken rec- 
ollection, and then scenes and events are 
called up, which had apparently all faded 
away. To set the machine in motion, so to 
speak, it is sufficient often, that there should 
be an attack of fever, a season of nervous ex- 
citement, or a feeling of sudden danger. Now 
it is that all the past comes pouring down upon 



240 THE SPRING-TIME OP LIFE. 

the present. Under sucli circumstances, the 
individual really seems to live more in a single 
half-hour, than he had in weeks, or even 
months before. 

As an illustration of this idea, let me refer 
to the sensations of a drowning man, as de- 
scribed by himself. From the moment exer- 
tion ceased, though the senses were all be- 
numbed, the activity of the mind was excited 
to a degree which defies the power of language 
to express. Thought succeeded thought, the 
review of one event followed that of another 
with inconceivable rapidity. All the scenes 
of his past life seemed crowded into a single 
group, and yet each so stood out in its individ- 
uality, that he could not help deciding on its 
character. It was really nothing more nor less 
than a sort of sitting in judgment on himself. 
And this whole scene was compressed into the 
narrow limits of two minutes — that being the 
precise time he was in the water. What a fact 
have we here ! No wonder we find the person 
himself asking, Have we not in this occurrence 
an indication of that almost infinite power of 
memory, which we shall feel after death ? 



MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE. 241 

To me there is a world of instruction in a 
single reliable account like this. It gives us a 
whole chapter on the imperishable nature of 
mental impressions, and helps us to understand 
something more of the yet unexplained prob- 
lems of our own existence. Who can tell the 
effect on the mind of the coming of the last 
messenger, or the blowing of the final trump ? 
Is it possible to imagine how vividly all the 
emotions and events of the present life may 
reappear, when this corruptible shall have put 
on incorruption ? 

The case of Dives is exactly in point. Here 
is a person, who, after wasting life in self-in- 
dulgence and sumptuous fare, has just reached 
the eternal world and commenced his existence 
there. Time with him has become eternity. 
But mark, there is no break in the continuity 
of his being, no cessation of thought, no pause 
in the working of memory. Let his prayer for 
a drop of water and his anxiety for the five 
brethren left behind, tell how his mind is em- 
ployed. Every past transaction now comes up 
again. The purple and fine linen, the loaded 
table, and the neglected beggar are all recol- 

21 



242 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

lected, and each adds bitterness to his cup of 
woe. 

This involves, if I mistake not, the great 
principles on which the final judgment is to 
be conducted. Each in that grand assize, must 
give account of himself to God, that " every 
one may receive according to the things he 
hath done, whether good or bad." How par- 
ticular and specific! But this, and many simi- 
lar declarations, can never prove true, unless 
the mind shall then and there recall all its by- 
gone feelings and exercises. Memory is no 
less necessary on the part of man, than is rec- 
titude on the part of God. In no other way 
can the reckoning be such, that every individ- 
ual shall be either acquitted or condemned out 
of his own mouth. The whole life long will 
then come up for review. This is the point at 
which we stop between the past and the future, 
and from which we shall proceed never to 
pause again forever. 

Now, my young friends, should not such 
thoughts as these be often revolved in your 
minds. That within you which we call life — 
intellectual, immortal life — never rises into 



MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE. 243 

higher value than when we thus contemplate 
its separate portions as constituting one whole. 
It is the same conscious, reflecting being to- 
day as yesterday, and in another world as in 
this. There is a process going forward, as it 
respects yourselves, far more wonderful than 
that by which multitudes have the features 
of their face transferred to the polished plate. 
That merely gives the lineaments of the ex- 
ternal man, and gives them on a perishable 
substance ; but in the case before us, the im- 
pression is upon mind, undying mind, and 
when once fairly taken can never wear out. 

Will you not stop then, and ask yourselves 
what kind of pictures you are now sitting for ? 
Suppose that every sin you commit should pro- 
duce a visible mark on your forehead, not to 
be concealed from either friend or foe, and 
which must always tell of crime and; igno- 
miny. The mark would seem as dreadful as 
that upon doomed , Cain. But are you not 
aware that a polluted thought harbored, a bad 
habit formed, a malignant passion indulged, 
will produce a scar on the soul, which all the 
ointments of the apothecary can never remove? 



244 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Once do wrong, and a blot is made which 
nothing but the blood of Christ can ever wash 
away. Adhere to you it must in life, in death, 
and in eternity. Every act is opening a foun- 
tain, which will send forth its streams of bless- 
ing or cursing, over the whole field of your 
existence. 

Listen to a simple tale. " The nails are gone 
but the marks are there,' ' said a weeping child 
to a father who had promised to drive a nail 
into a post for every wrong act his son did, 
and to pull one out for every right act. At 
length such was the good conduct of the boy, 
that the last nail was extracted. But to the 
surprise of the father, who congratulated him 
upon the fact, the child cried out with tears, 
" Yes ! the nails are gone, but the marks are 
there still." Ah, the overwhelming power of 
memory! Give me pain, give me poverty, 
give me loss of friends, give me anything in 
the long catalogue of human ills, sooner than 
make conscience my tormentor. 

Have you seen some idle boy cutting his 
name into the bark of a tender tree ? Little 
does he think, as letter after letter is formed, 



MENTAL IMPRESSIONS INDELIBLE. 245 

how they will all live, and grow and stand 
more distinctly out, as year upon year adds to 
the size of the tree. Every incision of the 
knife remains and becomes increasingly legi- 
ble as time elapses. What an emblem of the 
power which memory will give to those acts 
in which thousands of youth now thoughtlessly 
indulge! The bad deed once perpetrated, 
looks worse and worse as weeks and months 
pass away. Forgotten it will never be. It is 
certain to reappear and tell its tale of sadness 
over and over again, in the chamber of disease, 
on the dying bed, and in the ages of eternity. 
The evil cannot be got rid of. No human ex- 
pedient can chase the guilt away. 

What an argument have we here for living 
according to the requirements of the gospel! 
Cherish those virtuous feelings which come 
from the Spirit and the cross of Christ, and 
what remains to you of the present life will be 
soothed with peace and gilded with hope ; and 
when you pass into eternity, it will be to be 
followed with reminiscences, which shall fill 
all the future with the effulgence of Paradise 
itself. 

21* 



CHAPTER XIV. 

MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 

We sometimes see a manly youth. With 
no affectation of gravity, no assumption of 
what belongs to age and experience, and no 
obtruding of his opinions upon others, there is 
yet a considerateness, a self-respect, and an 
independence, highly pleasing in themselves, 
and giving rich promise of future usefulness 
and honor. This is what we wish to meet with 
in early life. 

The topic is worthy of your regard. It car- 
ries with it the idea that there are services for 
you to perform, advantages for you to improve, 
and excellencies for you to gain. To be men, 
honest and faithful men, true to your Maker, 
to your own destiny, and to the land in which 
your lot is cast, is the noblest purpose you 
can form — the highest achievement you can 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 247 

make. This it is important for you to realize 
at the outset. Life is in all cases and of neces- 
sity burdened with weighty responsibilities; 
and, happy is the youth who braces himself to 
meet and bear them manfully. 

Gladly would I aid you in acquiring such 
a character. The last words of David — the 
man after God's own heart, the sweet singer 
of Israel, and the renowned leader of her ar- 
mies, — to Solomon then in the bloom of youth, 
but soon to be advanced to the throne of his 
honored father were : " Be strong and show thy- 
self a man." Such is my exhortation to you. 

But what is it to be manly in youth? 

To reach any such excellence, you must re- 
member your own high origin. An unrivalled 
dignity was stamped upon the race at the be- 
ginning. The Author of all things is repre- 
sented as pausing in his creative work and 
saying, with a sort of majestic emphasis, "Let 
us make man in our image, and after our like- 
ness." It is useful to trace back our lineage, 
step by step, until we arrive at the first record, 
and there we find it written, as in letters of 
light, " Adam was the son of God." 



248 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Man has an imperishable value impressed 
upon his very being by the hand of God him- 
self. No other creature ever so called forth 
the divine regard. Each successive portion 
of the world was pronounced good, as it rose 
into existence ; but when God had made man 
a partaker of his own nature, and in a high 
and peculiar sense for his own glory, he sur- 
veyed the whole with infinite satisfaction, and 
declared it to be very good. This completed 
the work of creation. The Most High had 
now a vicegerent on earth. The world had a 
visible head. And even the apostasy, so 
dreadful in its nature, and drawing after it 
such tremendous consequences, did not wholly 
turn away from man all tokens of his Maker's 
regard. Though ruined, the race was not for- 
gotten. It was man, out of the whole range 
of universal being, whose nature Christ as- 
sumed, for whose redemption he shed his 
Wood on the cross, for whose regeneration he 
sent the Holy Ghost, and for whose eternal 
blessedness he has gone to prepare mansions. 
What a view does this give us of the real dig- 
nity of man ! 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 249 

Consider how men may, with God's blessing, 
improve and elevate themselves. No other crea- 
ture on earth is capable of such advancement. 
In no other case is the difference so great, as 
between man blinded by sin, the victim of his 
own evil passions, and sunk in vice ; and man 
reclaimed by the Gospel, irradiated by science, 
and ennobled by virtue. Though most help- 
less when he comes into the world, and more 
perverse in his nature than anything else that 
God has made, he is nevertheless capable of 
constant progress in everything which consti- 
tutes mental and moral dignity, until he reach- 
es an eminence, perhaps, scarcely inferior to 
that of a seraph. Let the light of truth shine 
into his mind, and the love of God be shed 
abroad in his heart, and you can hardly con- 
ceive what a man may be, and what a man 
may do. Though still a child of the dust, he 
is an heir of immortality. Though a resident 
of earth, his "conversation is in heaven." 

Think for a moment of the contrast between 
an intelligent Christian man, and a poor votary 
of sin. Their opportunities, we will suppose, 
have been the same, their natural capacities 



250 THE SPRING. TIME OF LIFE. 

the same, and they have had the same calls 
made upon them for effort. You look at one, 
as he stands up among his fellows, and find 
his countenance radiant with knowledge, his 
bosom filled with hope, and his whole aspect 
and demeanor indicating a dignity, a calmness, 
and a self-possession, such as he has derived 
from the society of good men, the study of the 
Bible, and an habitual trust in God's mercy. 
But what is the appearance of the other ? His 
mind has never been expanded by the pros- 
pects which the Gospel unfolds, nor have his 
affections been sanctified by communion with 
the blessed Spirit. There is a littleness, an 
earthliness, a debasement upon his entire char- 
acter, which tells you but too truly that he 
has been walking in the way of his heart, and 
in the sight of his eyes, and is filled with his 
own devices. Man is an elevated being when, 
moved by the grace of God, he " seeks for glo- 
ry and honor and eternal life." But he is a 
degraded wretch, when he sinks into ignorance 
and wallows in crime. 

And this work of elevation is one to which 
he must put his own hands. Friends may 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 251 

combine to bring him forward in the world, 
heaven may pour its choicest blessings upon 
his head, and every facility may be afforded 
him, on the right hand and on the left, but it 
is all in vain, unless he be willing to help him- 
self He must put forth his own powers, or he 
will be good for nothing, for either time or 
eternity. On no other or easier condition can 
he expect to rise to eminence in his calling, 
secure the confidence of his fellow-men, or lay 
up a treasure in heaven. 

We have in this country no hereditary offi- 
ces, honors, or emoluments ; and perhaps in 
no part of the world does property change 
hands so frequently and with such rapidity. 
Parents ride in their coach to-day, and their 
children sweep the streets to-morrow. Hence 
it comes to pass that almost all real men— men 
of force of character — men who command re- 
spect — men who do good in the world — are self- 
made men. We see this everywhere. Visit 
the capitol of the nation, and gauge the intel- 
lect, the influence, the genuine worth of sena- 
tors and representatives; or walk through 
your own streets and take an inventory of the 



252 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

standing of the citizens, and tell me if such is 
not the fact ! 

Spurn the thought, then, of trying to live 
upon the respectability of those who have 
gone before you. This is what a good bishop 
used to call a " shabby gentility." I pity the 
young man who has not self-reliance enough 
to stand erect and say, by the blessing of God 
I intend to be indebted to no one for a name 
and a reputation in the world. He must do 
this or sink into insignificance. 

Turn now to man as society requires him to be, 
and as he must be to Jill his proper place. No 
one can insulate himself and stand alone. 
Man came from God ; but he is to live on 
earth, as the place where he is to pass his pro- 
bation, the field which he is to cultivate, the 
theatre on which he is to act. His preparation 
for the world to come consists very much in 
properly discharging his duties for this world. 
He is a social being, and cannot, if he would, 
either live or die to himself. God has bound 
each to others as parent, son, friend, and mem- 
ber of the community; and hence arise rela- 
tions which every one is under obligations to 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 253 

cherish, and services which he must by no 
means fail to render. To shut one's self in 
his own cell, is to live in a dark and useless 
sphere. 

Neither great talents nor high attainments 
are necessary. It is possible to be a good citi- 
zen and a good Christian without any such 
distinction. There is among us too greedy a 
scramble for headship, both in church and 
state ; too eager a desire to " ride upon the 
high places of the earth." " Everything or 
nothing," seems to be the motto of the multi- 
tude. This arises partly from the open door 
which in our favored land is set before men of 
every rank and grade, and partly from the 
amazing stimulus supplied by the very nature 
of our free institutions. But the struggle is 
pressed too far. It is idle to suppose that 
every lawyer in the country can be a Mans- 
field, every merchant a Thornton, every phi- 
losopher a Bacon, every mechanic a Whitney, 
or every divine an Edwards. Nor need they 
be. It is not eminent men we want so much 
as good men, men that will "eat their own 
bread," and discharge noiselessly their duty; 

22 



254 THE SPR[NG-TIME OF LIFE. 

men who will pay their debts, love their fami- 
lies, and obey their God. Peaceful, industri- 
ous, order-loving citizens are the most useful. 

Talent is too much idolized among us, and 
station too much coveted. You may admire 
as much as you please the wide and deep river 
which moves majestically forward towards the 
ocean, bearing on its bosom the wealth of states 
and kingdoms, and giving life to commerce, 
agriculture, and all the useful arts. This sight 
is a sublime one. But you must not overlook 
the thousand rivulets from the mountain's side, 
not only combining their resources to form this 
noble stream, but marking their own silent 
progress with a health, a fertility and a beauty, 
which but for them would never be seen. 
What if they be so narrow that you can step 
over them ? What if they be so shallow that 
you can wade through them? They are no 
less essential to the prosperity of the country, 
as you learn by tracing those lines of living 
green which their course draws over our fields 
and meadows, than are those rivers that have 
worn for themselves channels through the 
everlasting hills. If both are necessary, the 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 255 

smaller ones are not the least so. The brook, 
in its place, is as useful as the river. 

So we say of man. It is not the great im- 
porter alone, whose enterprise is emptying into 
our laps the luxuries of other climes ; or the 
eloquent orator, who sways the feelings of pop- 
ular assemblies as with a magic wand ; or the 
large manufacturer, who forms the elegant fab- 
rics with which our wives and daughters are 
adorned ; or the cunning inventor, at whose 
beck all nature stands obedient, that we are to 
value.. If these men are good and true in 
other respects, they deserve our regard. But 
is there no praise of well-doing due to the man 
who toils on his grounds from the early dawn 
till the evening shades, or to the humble arti- 
san who breaks your slumbers by the din of 
his busy industry, or even to the day -laborer, 
who patiently works that he may make the 
home of his wife and his little ones happy? 
If men lead quiet and peaceable lives, in god- 
liness and honesty, they merit esteem, irrespec- 
tive of their rank and fortune. No matter 
what the exterior, the mind, the heart, the life 
is the man. 



256 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Our country calls aloud for such men as 
these. Of restive, talkative, self-commending 
citizens, who have nothing to do but to take 
care of the public welfare, we have enough 
and more than enough. Of youth who take 
liberties, and push themselves forward, and 
have no reverence for age or office, we have 
enough and more than enough. But we need 
a great increase of such men as can stay at 
home, and read the Bible, and train up their 
children in the fear of God. The land calls 
for modest, quiet, sober-minded youth, who 
think it no disparagement to themselves to 
rise up before the ancient, and treat gray hairs 
with respect. 

Can we take these views of man, so noble in 
his origin as coming from the hand of God, and 
forming the connecting link between heaven 
and earth ; endued with such capacities for im- 
provement that he may, with the Divine bless- 
ing, elevate himself almost to an angel's sphere ; 
and so associated with others, that he is bound 
to be good, and do good for their sake as well 
as his own ; and not be sensible of his real, 
inherent greatness? Oh ! to be a man in the 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 257 

proper, distinctive, ennobling sense of the term, 
is honor enough for any human being. He 
does not need office, or wealth, or external 
distinctions. Station and power could be of 
no real use to him. All these are but appen- 
dages of his allotment in the world, and are as 
distinct from the man himself, as he is from 
the house he lives in, or the coat he wears. 

Now, how may each of you be such a man ? 

In order to gain a prize like this you must 
be "men in understanding" God has blessed 
you with intellectual faculties capable of vast 
improvement. These you are to cultivate with 
the most assiduous care. Never forget that 
mind is your very best possession, and that so 
to train it by study, by observation, and by re- 
flection, that its various powers may be prop- 
erly developed, and suitable preparation thus 
be made for the duties before you, is a point 
of very great importance. Every young man 
is wanting to himself as well as wanting to his 
God who does not act upon the truth of this 
remark. The more his mental faculties are 
enlarged — provided only that his conscience 
and his heart be not neglected — the better will 



258 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

he find himself furnished unto every good 
work. 

You need internal, independent resources. 
Men cannot always be engaged in buying and 
selling and getting gain. There are intervals 
when they are necessarily thrown back upon 
themselves, and if happy at all they must be 
so in the state of their own minds, the work- 
ing of their own thoughts. Besides, many a 
man anticipates the day when he will be let 
loose from the drudgery of business. He hopes 
to have at least a few quiet years towards the 
end of his pilgrimage, when it shall be no 
longer necessary for him to mingle in the bus- 
tle of the world. But how is he to be fitted 
for this? Nobody in the world is generally 
more wretched than a retired man without 
mental resources. He had better toil on till 
the grave covers him. 

The means of improvement are within your 
reach. None of you are so poor or so busy as 
not to be able to purchase enough of books 
and find enough of time for reading, to secure 
very important acquisitions. If your hearts 
are set upon gaining knowledge, you will 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 259 

make advancement. The excellent Dr. Scott 
commenced his education, after the toils of the 
day were over, by the light of the kitchen-fire. 
John Newton studied Geometry in Africa, by 
drawing his figures in the sand. A resolute 
purpose is almost sure to accomplish wonders. 

Employ the hours of the Sabbath in improv- 
ing yourselves as rational, accountable beings. 
Here you have one whole day out of seven — 
one full year out of seven, and ten years out 
of seventy given you for this express purpose. 
What an opportunity for each of you to carry 
on the great work of education. If you do 
not become intelligent, the fault is all your own. 

Pardon me if I commend to you the pul- 
pit as a valuable source of instruction. In- 
duce a young man to secure for himself a seat 
in some one church, and attend regularly upon 
an evangelical ministry, and I venture to af- 
firm you will soon see the effect of it, in an 
enlargement of his mind, a refinement of his 
manners, and a general self-respect and fitness 
for duty, which otherwise he would never at- 
tain. Tell me not that church-going is expen- 
sive. The money which ought to be thus 



260 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

laid out, will generally be spent for rides of 
pleasure, for tavern bills, for theatrical or other 
amusements. 

Especially qualify yourselves for some par- 
ticular calling. It was often said by Madame 
de Stael, who had filled the world with her 
fame as a woman and an author, " What I 
value myself most upon, is that I have no less 
than seventeen different trades, by any one of 
which I could earn my living, if it were neces- 
sary." This is true nobility. Cherish this feel- 
ing, and it will give you a sense of indepen- 
dence and of conscious dignity, which no re- 
finement of manners, and no trappings of 
fortune can ever bestow. 

Again, be open and decided Christians. 

You cannot but feel, that man is a poor, de- 
pendent creature, in need of mercy which God 
only can bestow, and exposed to sorrows which 
God only can relieve. It is but mockery of 
yourselves to try to think otherwise. You 
must be conscious that you want some one to 
speak peace to you, when your eyelids are 
heavy with pain, and your cheeks are covered 
with tears, " and all the daughters of music are 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 261 

brought low." Giddy friends are miserable 
comforters now. You must betake yourselves 
to that glorious Gospel, which in the absence 
of all other help, can point you to the star of 
hope, and tell you of the blood which cleanseth 
from all sin. 

Eeligion, be assured, is no inefficient ele- 
ment in the formation of character. On the 
contrary, nothing takes so strong a hold on 
the heart, nothing reaches so fully down to the 
deepest motives of conduct, nothing exerts so 
potent an influence in shaping the course and 
fixing the state of man. Its seat is the inmost 
heart, where law and conscience meet, and 
where the presence of the " Shekinah" is felt. 
The inner chamber of the soul is the spot 
which it chooses for itself, and there, intro- 
ducing God as the speaker, and human being 
and blessedness as the topic, it supplies incen- 
tives for all that is noble in purpose and ele- 
vated in deportment as nothing else can. But 
then it must be the true religion, cordially em* 
braced and faithfully practised. " If the light 
that is in you be darkness, how great is that 
darkness I" 



262 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

It is not placing your name at the foot of a 
carefully constructed creed, or going ever so 
often through the mere forms of devotion, or 
becoming fired with zeal for some particular 
phase of Christianity, to the neglect of its hid- 
den life and its sanctifying power, that can 
avail. To go thus far and no farther, will 
only narrow the mind and corrupt the heart. 
This kind of religion will be sure to render 
you morose and repulsive. But be such Chris- 
tians as was Boyle, or Hale, or Wilberforce, or 
be such Christians as can be found by thou- 
sands in every part of the land, and you will 
be 'the better for it, for this life and the life to 
come. 

On this point I speak earnestly, for I feel 
deeply. Adopt the religion of the Bible — that 
religion which exalts God on the throne of the 
universe, and lays man low in the dust at his 
footstool — that religion which brings the real- 
ities of eternity near, and yet does not overlook 
the concerns of time — that religion which be- 
gins with a deep and heartfelt conviction of 
the evil of sin, and ends with a crown of right- 
eousness — that religion which is afraid of of- 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 2G3 

fending God, and is afraid of nothing else — 
that religion which led the daughter of the im- 
mortal Knox, when told by King James that 
he would pardon her husband if she would 
persuade him to submit, to lift up her apron 
and say, " Id rather have his head here" — that 
religion which struck out the first spark of real 
freedom in England — that religion which put 
the high praises of God into the mouths of the 
Puritans, and nerved their arms for victory — 
that religion, in short, which teaches all men 
to do justly, and love mercy, and walk hum- 
bly with God; and whatever else it accom- 
plishes for you, be sure it will never invest 
you with feeble and undecided traits of char- 
acter. 

Decide this question by all past and present 
history. Where is it on this broad earth that 
man rises nearest to his true position as a ra- 
tional, immortal being, and all the sweet char- 
ities of home and domestic life are most fully 
tasted, and character and property and life are 
best secured? It is where the word of God is 
read, and the facts of the fall of Adam and the 
redemption by Christ are received, and the 



264 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

doctrines of a final judgment and an eternal 
heaven and hell are believed. These things 
constitute the stamina of a fair reputation. 

You can be infidels if you will, and scoff at 
the new birth, and a life of faith on the Son 
of God, and the consolations of the Gospel ; 
but if you do, you will never be men. There 
is always some radical defect in such a charac- 
ter. Intelligence of a certain sort there may 
be, and a general morality of a vague kind 
there may be, but as for open, cordial, noble 
manliness, it is not and cannot be there. 

Then crown all, by living a virtuous life. 

This you will do if your hearts are right with 
God. It is just as much a law of grace, that a 
good conversation will accompany a good con- 
science, as it is a law of nature that good fruit 
will be produced by a good tree. These things 
always go together. If a man is unkind in his 
family, churlish in his intercourse with his 
neighbors, and deceitful in his dealings with 
the world, you need not tell me what he is in 
the church. A false profession may be made ; 
but no one ever yet had the mind which was 
in Christ Jesus without being rendered better 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 265 

in all the relations and duties of life. Unbri- 
dled passions are not the product of good prin- 
ciples. 

Suffer me to press this thought upon your 
attention. Once get right in your views of 
God and his truth, and you will not fail to be 
honest, upright men, whose word will always 
inform others what you mean and what you 
intend to do, and whose whole deportment 
will be fair and consistent. I know you are 
under no obligations to say all you think to 
anybody and everybody. This no one has a 
right to demand. But mark ; there is a wide 
difference between wearing your heart outside 
of you, to be gazed at and commented on by 
every passer-by, and wearing a false heart 
within, which no one can respect, and in which 
no one can confide. Eesolve above all things 
to be sincere, straight-forward men. Be con- 
tent to plough the ground, or plane a board, or 
make a shoe, if Providence allot you such 
work. But be true, be honest, be faithful. A 
gilded equipage can do but little, for a real, 
sincere, ingenuous man. 

Eesist the beginnings of evil. Young men 



266 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

once started in the wrong direction, know not 
where to stop. Led on from smaller to greater 
indulgences, they gradually lose their sense of 
shame, their tenderness of conscience, and their 
fear of God ; until to meet the cost of some for- 
bidden pleasure, they take a step which breaks 
the heart of parents, forfeits the confidence of 
friends, and consigns them to public contempt. 
In seeking to extricate themselves from one 
evil they rush into a greater. Instances of 
this sort occur everywhere. 

Nor is the worst yet told. Multitudes are 
infatuated enough to call all this manliness. 
They break loose from the restraints of the pa- 
ternal roof, cast off the shackles of early dis- 
cipline, and yield to the clamors of debased 
appetites — they despise the counsels of experi- 
ence, put on the swaggering airs of a desperado, 
and talk as if liberty meant licentiousness — 
they wipe off the kiss imprinted upon their 
cheek at the last parting by a tender sister, 
forget the advice of a venerable father, and 
trample under foot the tears of a fond mother 
— they give up the Bible, forsake the house of 
God, and violate the sanctity of the Sabbath ; 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 267 

in a word, they use the profane oath, pass 
around the merry glass, and affect to have no 
dread of damnation ; and then have the hardi- 
hood to turn round and pretend that this is 
liberty, that this is independence, that this is 
acting manfully. 

My young friends, I have used plain lan- 
guage ; and how could I do otherwise ? I feel 
that I have been speaking for parents, some of 
whom are far away, it may be, gone to a better 
world. I feel that I have spoken in behalf of 
those whose kindred you are to espouse, and 
whose offices you are to fill. Nay more. I 
feel that I have been discharging my duty as 
a minister of Christ, and I must be faithful. 

Learn then to set a high value on your own 
being. God himself has magnified you, by 
giving you an intellectual nature — by endow- 
ing you with capacities for improvement — 
by conferring upon you the attribute of im- 
mortality ; and above all, by sending his Son 
from heaven to die on your behalf. Will 
you tread all these lofty advantages in the 
dust ? Can you consent to be anything less 
than men ? 



268 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Many never become men in this sense of the 
word. They attain to the years, the stature, 
the estate of manhood, but there is no genuine 
manliness, no elevation of feeling, no proper 
sense of self-respect, no magnifying of their 
own existence. They need guardians all their 
life long. The same frivolity, the same fickle- 
ness, the same inconsiderateness, the same want 
of self-reliance which marked their conduct at 
fifteen, marks it at twenty-five or thirty. This 
you must avoid, and with the passing away of 
the period of your pupilage, put on the firm- 
ness and energy of men. 

Act always according to your own better 
judgment. I know that there is a strong, na- 
tive propensity in man to pursue a downward 
course; but there is a counteracting power 
within — call it conscience, or call it the secret 
impulses of the Spirit — which urges him to do 
right. I know that the voice of temptation, 
chiming in with his own sinful propensities, 
invites him the wrong way; but, blessed be 
God, there is another voice which is sure si- 
lently and solemnly to command him in an- 
other direction. I know that if he follow the 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 269 

light of truth, a sensation of the purest pleasure 
will spring up in his bosom; but if he fall 
prostrate before his baser passions, he will 
plant thorns in his pillow which cannot be 
extracted. 

It is well for you to lay your account with 
trials. They are necessary to make men. Sol- 
diers are not formed on the parade-ground, but 
in the battle-field. Generals do not acquire 
their reputation on review-days, but while 
leading on their hosts to the fatal charge. Al- 
most all valuable men are made so by difficul- 
ties. Think it not strange if the young lawyer 
has to wait for his clients. Deem it no marvel 
if the young physician sees the messenger from 
the sick-bed ride by his own door. Regard it 
not as a surprising thing, that the young mer- 
chant cannot go on, at once, as his father did. 
Impatience is one of the evils of the land. Our 
youth will not wait. They try to be men too 
soon. 

Difficulties borne manfully, teach the aspi- 
rant after wealth and honor, perseverance. 
They administer caution. They lead him to 
feel the need of laying a good foundation for 

23* 



270 THE SPRING-TiME OF LIFE. 

time to come. They make him humble. They 
show him that the way of man is not in him- 
self. They admonish him that the race is not 
always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. 
They impel him to say, u If the Lord will, I 
shall live, and do this or that !" 

Much is demanded at your hands. The land 
of your fathers' sepulchres calls upon you to 
stand fast by her true interests, and to see to 
it that no evil befalls her, which your good 
character and honest zeal can avert. This 
world of ours, " groaning and travailing in 
pain until now," over the effects of the grand 
apostasy, stretches out her imploring hands, 
and asks you to help forward the day of her 
deliverance and of "the manifestation of the 
sons of God." Above all, the God who made 
you, stoops from his throne in heaven, and 
beckons you so to fight the good fight that 
you may receive the crown, .which "the Lord, 
the righteous judge, will give you at that day." 
can you, will you, dare you be anything but 
men? 

It shall be well with such an one. Let him 
lose all outward comforts, houses and lands, 



MANLINESS IN YOUTH. 271 

trade and business, and be stripped of friends, 
forsaken by the smiles of fortune, and have a 
dark cloud come over his whole horizon ; no 
matter, he is a man still. Nothing is gone but 
the adornments of the outside* He has parted 
with nothing which he cannot spare. The man 
is left, with a mind as clear, and a purpose as 
firm, and a heart as true, as when days were 
bright and friends numerous, and applause 
loud. Daniel in the den of lions, is the very 
Daniel who interpreted the king's dream. Paul 
in his workshop, is the same Paul who ad- 
dressed the court of the Areopagus. A good 
man in the hour of the deepest gloom, is just 
what he was when the candle of the Lord 
shone upon his tabernacle. You trusted Him 
then, you can trust Him now. He was faith- 
ful then, He is faithful still. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 

My object in this chapter is to hold up the 
Scriptures, as a book for your daily study and 
meditation. There is no volume on earth like 
the volume of inspiration. Lay up these 
words of heavenly wisdom in your hearts, 
bind them as frontlets between your eyes, and 
all will be safe for time and eternity. Noth- 
ing: can harm vou so Ions: as vou take the 
Bible as a "light to your feet and a lamp to 
your path." 

I may surely claim your earnest attention, 
while I converse with you about the book of 
God. You will not turn away when I ap- 
proach you with such a message. The Bible, 
the blessed Bible, as a volume for youth, is 
my theme, and a theme worthy of an angel's 
Den. You need such a revelation to enlighten 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 273 

your understanding, and sanctify your heart. 
Let me enumerate a few of those features of 
the Bible which should commend it to your 
regard. 

1. It is inspired — its thoughts are the thoughts 
of God, and its words were chosen by the Holy 
Ghost. 

Xo man, young or old, will ever read the 
Bible aright, while he denies its true origin. 
The secret of its power lies in the fact that it 
is divine. While, in form and appearance, 
the book is like other books, it bears upon its 
pages the imprimatur of the celestial world. 
Its every chapter and verse is a communica- 
tion from God. 

I cannot at present enter upon an ex- 
tended argument to prove the Divinity of the 
Scriptures. The merest outline of evidence 
must suffice. Look at the miracles which attest 
its claims — miracles wrought in open day, 
and in the presence of thousands of credible 
and competent witnesses. Eecall a multitude 
of prophecies which have been fulfilled and 
are fulfilling to this hour. Think how the 
laws of Nature have been suspended, and the 



274 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

events of ages controlled to certify its char- 
acter. Then open the book itself, and mark 
the purity of its sentiments, the splendor of 
its diction, and the agreement of its parts. If 
you consider these points carefully, you can- 
not fail to be convinced that the Bible is really 
and truly the book of God. 

But there is another source of proof, still 
more satisfactory to the mass of Scripture 
readers; I refer to what is called internal 
evidence. Thousands who are not in circum- 
stances to master the argument derived from 
miracles and prophecy, are yet perfectly con- 
vinced that the Bible is the word of God. 
Their proof is that of the shepherd boy, who 
said of the sun, " I see its light, and I feel its 
heat." They know where the Scriptures 
originated, by the unmistakable influence 
exerted in the reading of them upon their 
own hearts. This is the argument of expe- 
rience, and it has mighty power with well- 
disposed minds. Here is a resting-place, from 
which none of the batteries of infidelity can 
frighten the humble believer. "I told him," 
said an unlettered Christian, recently, of his 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 215 

conversation with a Socialist lecturer — "I told 
him that I was not scholar enough to argue 
with him on science, yet I knew, by my own 
experience, that the Bible was true, and that 
he might as well try to persuade me that what 
I eat is not food, as that what I read in the 
Scriptures is not inspired." 

Eemember then, beloved youth, when you 
read the Bible, that you are holding intercourse 
with God himself. These thoughts, these 
precepts, these doctrines, are his. Everything 
about the Book, its history and its devotions, 
its statutes and its ordinances, its threatenings 
and its promises, indicate its Divine origin. 
It needs no harbinger to introduce it to men, 
no herald to announce its approach. The 
light which beams through its pages is light 
from the eternal throne, and the truth which 
it utters is truth coming from the Shekinah. 
Its voice is like that which our first parents 
heard in the midst of the trees of the garden. 
God himself is talking with you when you 
open these leaves and read these words. 

2. This book is remarkable for its age, and 
its. supernatural preservation. 



276 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

If we have a spark of veneration for an- 
tiquity, our veneration must be excited by a 
sight of the Bible. It is the oldest writing 
extant. Its pages look down upon us, not 
from the pyramids of Egypt, but from the 
rock of Horeb, the land of Uz, and the banks 
of the Jordan. It speaks to us from Ararat, 
from Carmel, and from Olivet. This book 
has outlived everything contemporary with it. 
Babylon has been overthrown, Troy has been 
sacked, Jerusalem destroyed, but the Divine 
Scriptures remain unharmed and unchanged. 
The library of Ptolemy Philadelphus has per- 
ished, but the history of the bondage in Egypt 
remains. We may liken it to a monument 
standing in solitary grandeur on the wide 
wastes of time, inscribed from base to summit 
with evidences of its origin. 

With the Bible in our hands, we seem to 
stand by the very cradle of the world, and see 
it advancing from infancy to manhood. From 
it we learn the origin of nations and empires. 
Portions of it were composed when there were 
no other writings in existence, and it informs 
us of things which, but for its chapters, could 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 277 

never have been known. The grand themes 
of this wonderful volume are the original in- 
nocence, the sad apostasy, and the final re- 
demption of the race. These are the sum of 
the book, and on these the inspired penmen 
delight to dwell. But there is an infinite 
variety of thought to fill up this compendious 
outline — thoughts enkindled by fire from the 
altar of God. No other work is so full, so 
complete, so suggestive. There is a wonder- 
ful power of condensation here. 

The Bible tells us about Eden, about the 
tree of knowledge, about the ark, and about 
the Bed Sea. It has chapters on the wilder- 
ness of Sinai, and the conquest of Canaan. 
As we turn over its leaves, we read of the 
dispersion of nations, the planting of countries, 
and the promise of a Saviour. Laws are here 
recorded as old as the world, and statutes are 
given coeval with the race. Its writers were 
a score and a half in number — shepherds, 
kings, seers, priests and fishermen. Begin- 
ning with the first man ; this one volume 
brings the history of the human family down 
through the long period of forty centuries, in 

24 



278 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE, 

unbroken succession. Not a page has ever 
been omitted — not a paragraph has been 
erased. 

We may almost say of the Bible, as of its 
author, it has life in itself. Kings have set 
themselves, and rulers taken counsel against it 
in vain. To use the beautiful thoughts of an- 
other, " If compelled sometimes to prophesy 
in sackcloth and be slain in the streets, it is 
sure like the witnesses in prophetic vision, to 
stand upon its feet again. If committed to the 
flames, it will come out like the three Hebrew 
children, without so much as the smell of fire 
upon it. Even if entombed in the grave, it 
will, without fail, like Him of whose mission 
it treats, rise again on the third, the appointed 
day." Fear not, my young friends, that the 
Scriptures will ever be put down by force or 
fraud. No weapon of wit, or scorn, or cruelty 
formed against them can prosper. 

3. There is an inimitable beauty and sublimity 
in the very style of the Bible. 

This is a matter which cannot fail to arrest 
the attention of every man of taste and refine- 
ment. No room for discrepancy of opinion 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 279 

exists here. The language of the Bible, its 
sweet imagery, its kind entreaties, its grand 
conceptions, its bold appeals, and its touching 
pathos, can never be sufficiently admired. It 
unites in the most perfect degree both the ten- 
der and the terrible, the mild and the majestic. 
In these respects, all the sages and orators of 
antiquity are left in the background. We 
must turn to the writings of shepherds, fisher- 
men and tent-makers, for the highest and pu- 
rest specimens of genuine eloquence. Let 
me refer you to a very few passages as ex- 
amples. 

Are you looking, beloved j^outh, for some- 
thing tender in incident, and spirit-stirring in 
plot, and exquisite in narrative ? We have it 
in the Bible. Eead the story of Joseph and 
his brethren, of David and Goliath, of Daniel 
in the den of lions, of Naomi and Kuth, and of 
the prodigal and his father. It is impossible 
to conceive of anything more impressive. No 
unsophisticated mind can weary in perusing 
tales so artless, events so pleasantly put to- 
gether, instruction given so unpretendingly. 
These histories will never wear out. As long 



280 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

as the human heart retains any freshness and 
life, it will be interested with the coat of many 
colors, the sling and the stone, the prayers 
thrice a day, the gleaning after the reapers, 
and the fatted calf. It is a bad sign when such 
incidents lose their power. 

Or is it the grand and majestic that you 
would contemplate ? We have it in these sa- 
cred pages. "What can equal the psalmist's 
description of the Most High, when he repre- 
sents him as " riding upon a cherub and flying 
upon the wings of the wind." Habakkuk 
tells us, the Holy One stood and measured the 
earth, he beheld and drove asunder the na- 
tions, the everlasting mountains were scat- 
tered, the perpetual hills did bow." Paul cries 
out almost as if already in heaven, "O death, 
where is thy sting, O grave where is thy vic- 
tory !" This is genuine sublimity, the sublim- 
ity not of language merely, but of emotion, 
conception and thought. Compared with the 
loftiest flights of uninspired genius, it towers 
like a mighty mountain above the adjoining 
hills. 

If you are in search of fine writing, you will 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 281 

not search in vain, if you have the Pentateuch, 
the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Eevelation 
to study. There is more true beauty in the 
story of the governor of Egypt making him- 
self known to his brethren, or in the book 
of Euth, than in any work of fiction the world 
has ever seen. Where is there such a song as 
the Canticles, or such condensed maxims as 
the Proverbs, or such a description as the 
scene at Sinai, or such a parable as the rich 
man and Lazarus, or such a representation as 
that of the angel swearing that there shall be 
time no longer? These things interest the 
peasant as well as the philosopher. The child 
of ten years delights in them no less than the 
ripe scholar. 

My young friends, would you acquire an 
effective style of speaking or writing, learn to 
draw from these wells of good Anglo-Saxon. 
Become familiar with the oracles of God. 
Everything here is ornate and tasteful, while 
at the same time, everything is strong and vig- 
orous. The lawyer should study the Bible, 
and so should the statesman, as well as the 
preacher of the Gospel. It should be studied 

24* 



282 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

by the boy in his efforts at letter-writing, and 
by the young man preparing to win the honors 
of college. As to style simply, it ought to be 
regarded as a model. 

4. This is the book which tells us how sin- 
ners may secure the favor of an offended God. 

Here we learn, what without it we could 
never know, whence we came and whither we 
are going. It informs us what man was by 
creation, what he has become by sin, and what 
he must be made by grace. No sooner did our 
first parents apostatize from God, than they 
were told of One who should in due time ap- 
pear as a deliverer. Immediately after the 
fall, the whole race was placed under a dispen- 
sation of mercy. God began at once to reveal 
himself to men, in the person of a Mediator, 
through whom their restoration was to be 
effected. 

The Bible leaves us in no doubt as to the 
fact, that we are all sinners in the sight of God. 
Its teachings on the subject of man's total de- 
pravity, are too clear to be misunderstood, and 
too explicit to be explained away. You may 
find the sad tale told in one form or other by 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 283 

patriarchs, by prophets, by apostles, and by 
Christ himself. With equal distinctness is the 
declaration made, that, without a new birth, 
no one can see the kingdom of heaven. And 
blessed be God, the Bible does not leave us 
enveloped in darkness as to the way of salva- 
tion. It points us to the atonement of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, as opening a way for the sin- 
ner's reconciliation with his Maker. And it 
reveals to us the wonder-working grace of the 
Spirit to change the heart. The remedy is 
fully adequate to the disease. We have only 
to look to "the Lamb of God, which taketh 
away the sin of the world," that we may not 
perish, but have eternal life. 

Surely you cannot be indifferent as to the 
relations in which you stand to your Maker. 
The inquiry will arise in your minds in the 
lonely walk, during the sleepless hours of 
night, and while standing by the bed of a 
dying friend, " Wherewith shall I come before 
the Lord, or bow myself before the Most 
High God ?" You must wish to know how 
poor guilty sinners, as you feel yourselves to 
be, can be pardoned and saved. Go then, 



284 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

study the 51st Psalm — ponder tlie conversa- 
tion of Christ with Nicodemus — read how the 
father welcomed home the returning prodigal 
— hear with what tenderness the Spirit and 
the bride say "Come." These are topics 
which, let the proud and the skeptical and 
the ungodly think as they will, are full of 
deep and commanding interest. King Alfred, 
amidst fame and power and prosperity, con- 
fessed that he needed pardon for sin, and hope 
in death, and a home in the eternal world. 
These are wants which the Bible alone sup- 
plies. 

Beloved youth, you need not be in uncer- 
tainty as to the question of your future wel- 
fare. That Bible which you have in your 
hands, has guided millions upon millions, as 
vile as yourselves, to the mansions of eternal 
rest. In instances without number, it has dis- 
pelled the darkness of the coffin, the grave, 
and corruption. And what more could jom 
wish for? If you are polluted, this holy book 
speaks of a cleansing fountain ; if guilty, it- 
points to a curse-removing sacrifice ; and if 
fearful, it utters words of assurance. Its 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 265 

grand excellence is, that it makes plain the 
path to heaven. 

5. The Bible is replete with consolation for 
the iceary and heavy laden. 

You are aware that an inheritance of grief 
is just as sure to mortals, as the laws of Nature 
are inviolable. "Man is born to trouble as 
the sparks fly upward." Some parts of this 
pilgrimage seem more bright and cheerful 
than others; but, make what concession we 
will, life is a warfare, and earth a vale of tears. 
No long experience is necessary to convince 
us that our very comforts contain the elements 
of sorrow. The dearest delights we here en- 
joy only expose us the more to disappoint- 
ment, and open avenues to the entrance of 
pain. This is the hard tenure by which we 
hold all earthly good. 

Suffer me to remind you, that you cannot 
escape the endurance of evil. Affliction will 
come — it will come from your own mistakes, 
it will come from the friends you love, and it 
will come from the hand of God. But where 
will you flee for refuge when the world is all 
hung in mourning? Tn this lovely and buoy- 



286 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

ant portion of life " you resemble birds," says 
one, " which build their nests in the sweet 
months of spring, while the foliage spreads its 
protection around them. Soon, however, cold 
winter comes, and the leaves drop off, and the 
little habitation has nothing left but the bare 
sticks and straw." How true to the life is a 
picture like this ! It reminds us of the change 
which often passes upon the joyous and merry- 
hearted, when sickness approaches, and old age 
reaches out its palsied hand. Everything in 
us and about us serves to impress the lesson, 

" Too low they build, who build beneath the stars." 

Yes, let me assure you, trials you must 
meet, as a part of your allotment. But open 
the Bible, and read, "Whom the Lord loveth 
he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom 
he receiveth." Look in upon the experience 
of the saints, and see how it is, that through 
much tribulation they enter the kingdom of 
heaven. Think of the great cloud of witnesses 
who, like their Divine Master, have been 
"made perfect through suffering." Hear it 
said, for your encouragement, "When thou 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 287 

passest through the waters I will be with thee, 
and through the rivers, they shall not over- 
flow thee." 

Is not the Bible the best book for mourners? 
Its language is, " As one whom his mother 
comforteth, so will I comfort you." Think of 
this, beloved youth, w T hen your fond hopes 
are dashed to the ground, and pain seizes upon 
you, and friends are far off. Is there any 
other resource for an hour like this ? " Bring 
me a book," said the great Sir Walter Scott in 
his last hours. " What book?" inquired his 
son-in-law Lockhart. "Can you ask?" re- 
plied the dying man ; " there is no book but 
the Bible." True, there is no book for a dying 
hour but the Bible. 

Now, beloved youth, let me ask, will you 
carefully and prayerfully study the Bible ? I 
cannot tell you how much my heart is set 
upon securing this one great object. Take 
this blessed volume, press it daily to your 
bosoms, make it the man of your counsel, and 
I dare promise that it will guide you safely 
amid all the rocks and shoals which obstruct 
your voyage. Here is to be found that wis- 



288 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

dom which has length of days in her right 
hand, and in her left hand riches and honor. 
The ways which this Holy Book discloses, " are 
ways of pleasantness," and all the paths 
which it reveals " are peace." Never shall I 
despair of any one of you, whatever the perils 
of the post you occupy, if you will take the 
Bible with you, and often stop to ask counsel 
of the Most High. This will prove a safer 
defence than munitions of rocks. With such 
a book for a companion, I shall expect to see 
you lifting up your heads manfully, and 
pressing forward in the high road of duty. 

"What can I say to enhance the value of 
God's book in your eyes ? Let me beg you 
to carry it with you to your apprenticeship, 
keep it in your bedroom as a clerk, and 
place it among your choicest volumes as a 
student. One thing I dare promise every 
young man, the oftener and the longer you 
read the Bible, the more will you love to read 
it. Its pages will be sweeter to you at forty 
than at twenty, and at seventy than at fifty. 
The consolations it offers, the promises it gives, 
the prospects it unfolds, and the glories it re- 



THE BIBLE THE YOUNG MAN'S BOOK. 289 

veals, will increase in richness and fulness to 
the very end. The last chapter read to you 
before you go to your heavenly home, will 
seem most delightful of all. 

Never shall I forget what emotions it awa- 
kened in my bosom, a few months ago, to hear 
an aged minister say, " My sight is so gone 
that I shall never be able to read another 
chapter in the Holy Bible." That venerable 
saint has since been taken to his rest, but what 
would he not have given, during the few days 
which then remained to him, for the privilege 
of searching again those precious pages which 
had so often soothed and cheered his heart in 
the land of his pilgrimage. With equal in- 
terest did I listen a few days since to a 
young lady, while the cold sweat of death was 
upon her brow, as she recommended, in tones 
of almost angel sweetness, to her companions 
in study, the daily and devout reading of the 
Holy Bible. It was pleasant to see early life, 
in this case, like advanced age in the other, 
testifying to the value of the word of God. 
"Wilberforce, a little before his death, said to a 
pious friend, "Bead the Bible — read the Bible 



290 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

— let no religious book take its place. It has 
been my hourly study." Books about religion 
may be useful, but they are no substitute for 
the simple truths of the Bible. 

Let me close with one recommendation, and 
I make it to every youth who reads these 
pages — it is, that you never suffer a day of 
your lives to pass without reading at least a 
chapter of the Bible. Do this while living 
quietly in your father's house; do it when 
forced out into the world to breast its diffi- 
culties and struggle with its storms. Keep the 
blessed Bible by your side, and let its precious 
doctrines and precepts dwell in you richly in 
all wisdom. I shall expect you thus to be- 
come useful and honorable men, as well as 
sincere and devout Christians. Under the 
guidance of this Divine light, you will walk 
safely in the way. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

CHRIST AN EXAMPLE TO YOUNG MEN. 

There is one safe model character. No al- 
lowance need be made for him, whose early life 
I deem it my high privilege now to portray. 
Of the blessed Jesus, who was born of a wo- 
man, and had his dwelling among men, it may 
with truth be affirmed, that he never betrayed 
a bad temper, never spoke an idle word, and 
never did a wrong act. From the first, his 
character was a perfect character, and his life 
was a perfect life. In the tenderness of infan- 
cy, in the bloom of youth, in the maturity of 
riper years, "he did no sin, neither was guile 
found in his mouth." * 

How beautiful is such a picture ! We love 
to be assured that the life of the Son of God on 
earth was no less complete as a pattern, than, 
his death on the cross was complete as a sacri- 
fice. All in detail is not given that we per- 



292 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

haps could have wished; but enough is re- 
vealed to show that his conduct as a youth is 
worthy of universal imitation. So much was 
he like all men in the trials he was called to 
bear, and in the duties he was appointed to 
perform, that you may well be invited to walk 
in his steps. Be what the Saviour was, and 
you will be all that fond parents and kind 
friends could desire. No higher object can 
awaken your aspirations. 

1. Eeflect upon the perfect fitness of Christ 
to be an example for the young. This is a 
point, which I am persuaded, none of us pon- 
der as we should. We are too much in the 
habit of thinking of the Son of God, as a being 
so entirely of a different order and another 
world, that he can scarcely enter experimen- 
tally into our feelings, or have any effective 
sympathy with us in our sorrows. It is hard 
to get a#full impression of his oneness with the 
children of men, and the interest which he thus 
takes in our welfare. But this is a mistake no 
less prejudicial to ourselves, than it is deroga- 
tory to the glory of his name, as Mediator. 
Let me set you right here. 



CHRIST AN EXAMPLE. 293 

That spotless character which I now present 
to you, is the character of one in your very na- 
ture. The real humanity of him whom all the 
angels of God worship, you scarcely need be 
told, is as fundamental an article of the Chris- 
tian's creed, as is his proper divinity. Whatever 
apparent contrariety there is between them, 3-011 
must put the two characters together ; Maker, 
and Elder Brother ; existing from eternity, yet 
born in the days of Herod the king ; the Word 
made flesh and dwelling anions; us. It would 
no less effectually undermine the religion of 
the gospel, and take away the foundation of 
the sinner's hope, to show that Jesus was not 
truly and in fact a man, than it would to 
show that he was not truly and in fact God. 
There may be a difficulty in conceiving of him 
in both lights at one and the same moment. 
How He, who was to be called the Son of the 
Highest and to whom the Lord God was to 
give the throne of David, and who was to 
rei^n over the house of Jacob forever, could 
also be the babe of Bethlehem, the boy in the 
temple, and the young man of Nazareth, we 

25* 



294 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

cannot tell. Suffice it to say that " thus it is 
written." The Bible reveals it as a fact. 

Call the statement mysterious, if you please, 
that the infant in the manger should be the 
Creator of the world, and that the child that 
asked questions of the doctors should be 
" the Wisdom of God," and that the man 
Christ Jesus should be "the Lord our right- 
eousness" — it is no more mysterious than the 
union of your own soul and body, and no more 
difficult of comprehension. 

I make no attempt, in holding up to you this 
bright example, to explain the doctrine of a 
two-fold nature in the one person of Christ. 
Sufficient is it for all useful purposes, that it is 
revealed as a truth, which we are to receive, 
and wherein we are to stand ; and that we can 
see the connection of this precious truth with 
everything that is vital in experience, and 
everything that is correct in deportment. As 
God, Jesus made the world, searches the heart, 
is present where two or three meet in his name, 
governs the universe, will raise the dead, and 
conduct the final judgment ; while as man he 
rested by the well of Samaria, wept at the 



CHRIST AN EXAMPLE. 295 

grave of Lazarus, washed the disciples' feet, 
and ate of the broiled fish and honey-comb. 
You must hold fast here, as to life itself. 
Never forget that Jesus is your kinsman, as 
well as your Judge. As really was he a child 
in his mother's arms, and as really did he grow 
up in the home of his parents, and as really did 
he buffet the temptations of life, as any other 
of the sons of men. In this way alone could 
he have become a perfect example for your 
imitation. 

I present to you also, the character of one, 
who subjected himself to your condition Not 
in appearance merely, but in deed and in truth, 
did Christ take upon him the infirmities, and 
bear the sorrows of a son of Adam. So far as 
respects susceptibilities, mental and physical, 
he was "made like unto his brethren;" sub- 
sisting as they do, and feeling both joy and 
grief as they feel them. In all these re- 
spects he was as you are. His body, like 
yours, needed food, clothing and sleep; his 
hands, like yours, could be hardened with 
toil ; his flesh, like yours, might be lacerated 
with stripes, and his mind, like yours, could 



296 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

be harassed and perplexed. If you have strug- 
gles, so had He. If you need encouragement, 
so did he. Satan could tempt him. His ene- 
mies could give him trouble. The soldiers 
could crucify him. His Father's countenance 
could fill him with joy. He could be animated 
by hope. 

So far as the discharge of duty, and endu- 
rance of sufferings, and exposure to hardships, 
and conflict with temptations were involved, 
the condition to which Christ stooped, differed 
in no essential particular from that of mere 
men. Though he could bear his burden bet- 
ter, for he could bear it without impatience, 
without unbelief, without repining, this by no 
means proves that he felt it the less, or shed 
any fewer tears on its account. 

Take away sin, and its accompanying dread 
of the future, and the Saviour's condition was 
as is yours. With this exception, you have 
not a difficulty which did not press with equal 
weight upon him, nor a sorrow to which his 
heart was not equally exposed. His feelings 
could be hurt by ill-treatment as easily as 
yours, and he could weep over the neglect of 



CHRIST AN EXAMPLE. 297 

professed friends as sincerely as you. Is your 
path rough? Christ's was still more so. Are 
you sometimes distressed ? So was he. The 
fears which agitate your bosom, his was not a 
stranger to, and the hopes which may gild 
your closing hour, are hopes which shed their 
influence on his death. How fitted to be an 
example ! 

Again, Jesus was once of the very age which 
you have now reached. The thirty years 
which he spent on earth before entering on 
the work of his public ministry, included the 
period of childhood and youth. There was a 
reason for this. If it was a season of compara- 
tive obscurity, it was not a lost season. It 
gave him a fuller experience of human life in 
its early gladness and grief, and it enabled him 
to furnish a pattern for those who most ur- 
gently need it. What he felt of pain and 
weakness as a child, and what he knew of care 
and labor as a youth, serve to render his ex- 
ample the more useful. 

It was not as an aged man, bending under 
the infirmities of years, that Jesus was seen 
crossing the hills and traversing the valleys of 



298 THE SPRING-TtME OF LIFE. 

Judea. He was seen in Nazareth, not as one 
whose head is covered with the frosts of many- 
winters, but as a child by his mother's side, as 
a boy in his father's shop, and as a youth at 
his allotted work. His time of life was just 
that which we contemplate with the deepest 
interest. 

Can you think with indifference of the fact, 
that Jesus once stood, in age, exactly where 
you now stand ? The precise number of weeks, 
and months, and years which have gone over 
your heads, went over his also. Your circum- 
stances at this critical period, he cannot over- 
look ; he remembers his own at the same peri- 
od of life. 

2. Let me name some of those virtues, 
which the example of Christ inculcates for the 
young. A wide field opens here, inviting our 
entrance, and promising richly to reward our 
examination. The character of Jesus was one 
grand constellation of excellencies, embracing 
everything pure, and true, and lovely, and of 
good report. It is adapted to all men, and all 
countries, and all climes. I can dwell only on 
a few items. 



CHRIST AN EXAMPLE. 299 

Christ was distinguished for the improvement 
he made in the morning of life. His youth 
was not wasted in indolence, or lost in self-in- 
dulgence, or frittered away in things of no 
profit. None of the hours of the holy child 
Jesus were misspent, none were misappropri- 
ated. It is the explicit testimony of the in- 
spired oracles, that he increased "in wisdom, 
and stature, and in favor with God and man." 
As he grew in years, he grew in knowledge. 
Having a true body and a reasonable soul, 
these could be expanded and developed as are 
the bodies and souls of other children and 
vouth. The word of God no doubt was his 
study, and we may well conclude that he med- 
itated therein day and night. He loved the 
appointed services of God's house. Its pray- 
ers and its praises were his delight. 

However destitute Christ may have been of 
such literary advantages as are now justly 
prized, of one thing we are assured, he was 
blessed with the assiduous attentions of a wise 
and good mother — a mother who had received 
her child as a special gift of God, and who re- 
garded him with mingled tenderness" and ven- 



300 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

eration. Never did woman, before or since, 
perform so delightful a task. Can yon con- 
ceive of anything more touching? Mary is 
sitting with the holy child Jesus by her side, 
and they read together out of the book of the 
law. Her heart overflows with tenderness, 
and his heart overflows with gratitude. Every 
day she witnesses his improvement, and every 
day he repays her care by his tender attentions. 

I am well aware that this is treading upon 
ground where the imagination must not be 
suffered to run wild. We must not lose sight 
of the fact, that Jesus was "the mighty God," 
as well as the babe of Bethlehem ; that he was 
not only the boy twelve years of age hearing 
and asking questions, but was possessed of all 
the attributes of Deity. This point has, I trust, 
been sufficiently guarded. The Godhead must 
not be forgotten, while we are contemplating 
his manhood. Still, to get the full benefit of 
his example, we should consider it in all the 
aspects presented in the holy Scriptures. 

Jesus too was dutiful to his parents. 

This is one of the loveliest features in the pic- 
ture before us. The sacred writers are careful 



CHRIST AN EXAMPLE. 301 

to say, that he was subject to Joseph and Mary, 
consulting their wishes, submitting to their au- 
thority, and obeying their commands. Never 
did he give them one moment's pain by impa- 
tience or forgetfulness, or want of respect. 
Never did he fail to satisfy all their just ex- 
pectations. It is the concurrent testimony of 
all early Church history, that Jesus learned the 
trade which his reputed father practised, and 
thus cheerfully contributed to the comfort and 
maintenance of the family of which he was a 
member. He did not suffer his parents to toil 
while he trifled, or to wear themselves out, 
while he ate the bread of idleness. Such a 
sight is always sad, and we may be assured, it 
was not witnessed in the household of which 
the holy child Jesus was an inmate. 

I love to think of Christ as an obedient, du- 
tiful son, the son of poor parents, taught be- 
times to labor with his hands, and by the 
cheerfulness of his spirit, and the correctness 
of his deportment, filling the lowly dwelling 
in which they lived, with light and joy and 
peace. How different this from the conduct 
of many an idle, restless, wayward child, dis~ 

26 



302 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

turbing the serenity of his father's fireside, 
and piercing his mother's heart with bitter 
sorrows! Such an one, whatever his talents 
or advantages, has not the mind that was in 
Christ. 

Reflect, my young friends, upon the conduct 
of the Son of God, if ever tempted to swerve 
from the commands of him that begat you, and 
to disregard the entreaties of her that bare 
you. In turning a deaf ear to their requisi- 
tions, you will most assuredly wrong your own 
souls. Jesus delighted to honor his parents, 
and so must you, if "your days are to be long 
upon the land that the Lord your God giveth 
you." Alas, how little is that son like Christ,' 
who is careless whether he make home happy 
or miserable! Whatever beauty of counte- 
nance, comeliness of person, or brightness of 
talent he possesses, he bears no resemblance 
to the holy child Jesus. 

Again, besides being diligent and dutiful, 
Christ was truly and eminently pious. Love 
to God ruled his heart, not only controlling 
every inward emotion, but finding expression 
in all suitable outward acts. How cordially 



CHRIST AN EXAMPLE. 303 

did he join the public worship of God's house, 
and go up with the multitude that kept 
holy day. With what pleasure did he unite 
in the daily devotions of the holy family at 
Nazareth! Such was his delight in prayer 
that we find him engaged in this sacred em- 
ployment late in the evening, a great while 
before day, and even during the entire night. 
With him there was no forgetfulness, no indif- 
ference, no declension. Wherever he was — at 
the well of Samaria, in the house of Martha, 
or dining with the Pharisee — he evinced the 
same devout state of mind. His zeal knew 
no abatement, his faith no inconstancy, and 
his peace no interruption. '* 

Yet there was nothing ascetic, nothing un- 
social, in the piety of the Saviour. We have 
good reason to conclude that he was as far 
removed from austerity and seclusion on the 
one hand, as he was from worldly conform- 
ity on the other. An air of mingled cheer- 
fulness and sobriety seems usually to have sat 
on his brow. As he could weep with those 
that weep, so he could rejoice with those that 
rejoice. Never did he live a day without 



304 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

spiritual and heartfelt communion with God, 
and never without some act of tender and con- 
siderate benevolence. 

Take the conduct of the blessed Saviour for 
thirty-three years together, and what an ex- 
ample does it furnish of sincere and elevated 
piety ! How serious is his frame of spirit, and 
yet how pleasant ! How devotional, and yet 
how cheerful! How steadfast, and yet how 
mild ! How courageous, and yet how conde- 
scending ! At all times and under all circum- 
stances, he was just what every child, every 
youth, and every man should be. 

Now, what can I do better than to urge you, 
my young friends, to take the holy child Jesus 
as a pattern, and walk in his steps ? Do this, 
and you will never grieve a father's or a 
mother's heart. Do this, and you will never 
make a brother or a sister blush. Do this, 
and you will never disappoint the hopes of the 
church of God. Do this, and you will not 
fail to be a blessing to the world. You will be 
all that the wisest benevolence could desire, if, 
in temper and deportment, you are like the 
youthful Saviour. 



CHRIST AN EXAMPLE. 305 

Bear with me while I press this suggestion. 
Other names are worthy of respect and love, 
but here is a name which stands out single and 
alone. What, beloved youth, is Joseph, or 
Josiah, or John, compared with the holy child 
Jesus. They were dutiful, but they sometimes 
gave way to ill feelings and temper. They 
were pious, but their hearts sometimes wander- 
ed from God. They were examples of good- 
ness, yet it would not always be safe to follow 
them. But here there is no defect, no draw- 
back, no alloy. I wish the youngest of you 
to remember that there was a person in the 
world of your very age who never had an ill 
feeling, never uttered a wicked word, and 
never did a wrong act. Think what a life the 
blessed Saviour lived, at the same season 
through which you are now passing. Learn 
to contemplate him as he lies in the manger, 
or rests on his mother's bosom, or enters the 
carpenter's shop, or puts questions in the tem- 
ple, with adoration and love. If he be your 
Bedeemer, he is at the same time your exam- 
ple, and you are to walk in his steps. 

This is a topic which none can exhaust. 
26* 



306- THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

Gladly would I fix the minds of every one who 
reads these pages upon such a pattern of suc- 
cessful diligence, unwavering dutifulness, and 
Scriptural piety, as is here brought before us. 
In Jesus there was no inattention to duty, no 
impatience of restraint, no forgetfulness of 
God. Think how he felt and acted, if ever 
you are tempted to dislike study, neglect your 
parents, or give up the duties of devotion. It 
is not thus that the holy child Jesus waxed 
strong in spirit, and was filled with wisdom. 

Especially look to him in every hour of sad- 
ness. Do you feel yourselves poor, and in 
danger of being neglected ? Go, make your 
trouble known to one who had the cup of 
sorrow put to his lips from the birth. Are 
you sometimes terrified at a life of toil and 
labor ? Go, and refresh your spirits by a sight 
of what is doing in the carpenter's shop at 
Nazareth. Does a life of serious piety now 
and then seem impracticable? Go, gather 
strength and courage from Him who delighted 
in nothing like communion with his Heavenly 
Father. There is no reason why you should 
faint or be disheartened. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

RLLIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 

We are brought to the last of a series of 
chapters, which I trust you have not read in 
vain. In our progress, a wide range has been 
taken, and a variety of topics, some of them 
not often publicly discussed, has come under 
review. I have had high authority for enfor- 
cing, with all earnestness, the precepts of the 
second table of the law; but you need not 
be told that there is such a thing as sustaining 
a fair reputation, according to the world's esti- 
mate, of which the fear and love of God con- 
stitute no part. This is the point in relation 
to which my tenderest solicitudes are awak- 
ened, and I cannot bring these chapters to a 
close, without enjoining it upon your serious 
and immediate attention. Make the Almighty 
your friend, and you will never be ashamed 
or confounded. 



308 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

To fear God, and keep his commandments, 
is the whole duty, and I may add the whole 
happiness of man. This "has promise of the 
life that now is, and of that which is to come." 
It is " the conclusion of the whole matter." 
Religion, pure and undefiled religion, as it is 
before God even the Father, is the perfection 
of human character and attainment. It is 
adapted to mail's ?iature, and it is indispensable 
to his welfare. 

1. Religion is adapted to maris nature. 

What is religion ? We speak of it as love 
to God, as repentance for sin, as faith in Christ, 
as a reception of the doctrines of the Bible, 
and as obedience to the divine commands. 
All these are included in the comprehensive 
word. Such a religion, growing out of the 
very relations which man sustains to his Ma- 
ker, not as a creature merely, but as a sinner, 
and having for its object his restoration to holi- 
ness and happiness, must be suited to his nature. 

This will appear, if you consider how strong- 
ly it addresses itself to his rational faculties. 
Taken as a collection of revealed truths, noth- 
ing is so fitted to give elevation and expansion 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 309 

to the mind, and to call its powers into the 
most vigorous exercise. Keligion presents to 
one's consideration the most stupendous facts 
and events of which he can form a conception. 
The creation of the world, the special provi- 
dence of God, the apostasy of the race, the re- 
demption by Christ, the immortality of the 
sou], the resurrection of the dead, and the final 
judgment, are the grand themes on which he 
is daily called to meditate. Can there be any 
source of mental and moral grandeur, com- 
parable with these ? Is there any other class 
of subjects, that takes such hold of the think- 
ing faculties, and raises them so high ? In this 
way, true piety always gives increased strength 
and perspicuity to the workings of the intellect. 
So far as respects clear, consistent thoughts of 
God, of human accountability, of the awards 
of a future world, religion not only " lifts the 
poor from the dunghill," but it sets him above 
the " kings and nobles of the earth." What a 
spring did it give to the mental faculties of the 
Dairyman's Daughter, and the Shepherd of 
Salisbury Plain ! It forms the very best school 
of intellectual elevation. 



310 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

The mind will be feeble, as the result of one 
of its own unchanging laws, so long as it is 
exercised solely with little things. To enlarge 
the scope of one's thoughts, he must learn to 
break away from the dull routine of every-day 
duty, and bring his powers into vigorous con- 
tact with things intrinsically grand and great. 
A new spring is given to his intellectual facul- 
ties, the moment he begins to take the dimen- 
sions of lofty and ennobling truths. His whole 
inner man now finds itself addressed by an ad- 
equate object, and at once girds up its energies 
for the task of swimming in waters where there 
is no bottom. 

Eely upon it, my young friends, there is 
everything in scriptural, vital religion to widen 
the scope and stimulate the movements of the 
human understanding. All the lessons it gives 
us about the deep and awful depravity of man, 
his accountability to God for every feeling of 
his heart and every act of his life, his entire 
destitution of anything good in the sight of 
God, his dependence on the blood of Christ for 
pardon, and on the Spirit of Christ for sanctifi- 
cation. and the need he has of help from above 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 311 

in every step of his journey towards heaven, are 
adapted, beyond anything and everything else, 
to awaken thought, elicit inquiry, and prompt 
to effort. If the gospel bows down the loftiness 
of man and lays his haughtiness low, that God 
alone may be exalted, it does this, not by 
darkening his understanding, but by renewing 
his heart; not by cramping the workings of his 
intellect, but by changing the character of his 
affections. So true is it that the very tendency 
of real, spiritual religion is to unfold and call 
out all the mental energies, that no one can go 
through that conviction of sin and renuncia- 
tion of self, and trust in the atonement, which 
the Scriptures denominate a passing from death 
to life," without being made by it a more think- 
ing, reflecting, intellectual being than he was 
before. As to the mass of the community, the 
effect of genuine conversion in moving and ex- 
panding the mind is surprising indeed. In no 
other schools are lessons given which make so 
powerful an impression, or secure such mental 
development. 

Never fear that any one will become men- 
tally imbecile, by having his attention rightly 



312 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

directed to the subject of religion. To utter 
such a sentiment is a gross slander, as the lives 
of Hale, and Boyle, and Newton, and Owen, 
and Edwards, and Davies, and Chalmers, and 
a thousand other almost equally honored 
names, clearly testify. It is not the study of 
a self-existent God, a Deity incarnate, a throne 
of judgment, and a world of retribution, that 
bedwarfs the mind. It is not such a convic- 
tion of sin as led Luther to cry out from the 
very depths of his soul, "Oh! my sin! my 
sin I" it is not such a view of Christ on the 
cross as broke the cords which bound so fast 
the burden of Bunyan's Pilgrim; nor is it 
such an undoubting assurance of the love of 
God as lessened the death-struggle of the he- 
roic Martyn, that can ever weaken the power 
of the mind. The thing is impossible. To 
pretend so is to exhibit the grossest ignorance. 
But this is not all. 

Eeligion is something more than a mental 
exercise, it is suited to man's moral susceptibili- 
ties. We have a heart as well as an intellect, 
and our affections need to be regulated, even 
more than our understanding to be expanded. 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 313 

Here it is, that the apostasy especially wrought 
its evil, and here it is that redemption espe- 
cially applies its remedy. The Bible exhibits 
to us the attributes of God, not merely to ex- 
cite emotions of awe, and grandeur, and mag- 
nificence, but to awaken love, and admiration, 
and confidence. It reveals a Saviour dying on 
the cross, not only to engage the attention, but 
to produce an abiding influence on the heart. 
It speaks of sin, and pardon, and heaven, and 
hell, not simply to stir the intellectual powers, 
but to take a fast and energetic hold on the 
conscience. The God it makes known, is the 
God in whom we are to put our trust as a 
Father. The Redeemer it reveals is the Re- 
deemer who offers to shelter us from the Di- 
vine wrath. The bliss it proclaims, and the 
woe it threatens, is bliss for us to seek, and 
woe for us to shun. 

Yes, beloved youth, that religion which is 
recommended to you, is something without 
which your moral and spiritual nature can 
never have a right development. In becom- 
ing good men, you will not only gain a wider 
comprehension, and a sounder judgment, and 

27 



314 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

a higher range of intellect, but you will gain, 
what you far more emphatically need, a better 
state of religious feeling. No one, try what 
experiments he please, can succeed in persuad- 
ing himself that he is not a transgressor, and 
does not require an atonement. To attempt 
this is to practise an imposition upon himself. 
Hence, the great doctrine of salvation by the 
blood of the cross, though adapted to give 
breadth and compass to the understanding, is 
still more directly adapted to give peace and 
tranquillity to the conscience. If it is an in- 
strument of expansion to the mind, it is the 
very panacea for the ills of the heart. 

Let any candid man read the account of the 
creation, the temptation and fall, the institution 
of sacrifices, the promises of a Saviour, the in- 
carnation of the Son of God, his death in the 
room of sinners, the intercession which he is 
making at the right hand of the Father, the 
invitations of mercy sent abroad in his name, 
and the glory hereafter to be revealed, and 
compare all this with what he feels in his own 
bosom and sees in the world around him, and 
whatever else he may think or say, he cannot 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 315 

avoid the conclusion, that there is that in the 
religion of the Bible, which meets the necessi- 
ties of the heart as nothing besides ever did, or 
ever can. It fills the great want of the human 
bosom. Without it one can never be what he 
should be, or do what he ought to do, or enjoy 
what he might enjoy. 

This is a blessing of which no one can be 
destitute, and still hope to rise to the dignity 
of true happiness. " Every reflecting man," 
says a distinguished writer, " when thinking 
of his situation in the world, will often ask, 
With what can I be satisfied ? I look at the 
opulent, and see Ahab pining away for a gar- 
den of herbs, and the rich fool dying while his 
barn was building, and Dives begging for a 
drop of water. I think of the wise, and see 
Ahithophel hanging himself, and Aaron mak- 
ing a golden calf, and Solomon besotted by his 
idolatrous wives. I turn to men of worldly 
pleasure, and see that such pleasure is nothing 
else than the bed into which Satan casts the 
Esaus, and the Absaloms of the day. I con- 
template honor, and see in the far-famed 
Westminster Abbey, that the mightiest dead 



316 THE SPRING-TIME OP LIFE. 

have nothing left them but a boasting epitaph. 
I must die. I must meet God. I must go into 
eternity, and how can things like these suit my 
case ?" It can never be. To dream of happi- 
ness from objects so yain and evanescent, is to 
spend money "for that which is not bread." 

May we not say then, that religion is adapted 
to man's nature, intellectual and moral ? Why 
else has he such a capacity for mental enlarge- 
ment, and such susceptibility to the influence 
of hope and fear ? Why else does he feel such 
an irrepressible longing after immortality? 
Why else is the entire world, in which he 
lives, unable to carry one drop of real conso- 
lation to his lips? Why else is he so poor, so 
dependent, so unable to provide for himself? 
These simple facts tell us, as with angel elo- 
quence, what he is, and what he needs. But, 

2. Religion is necessary to man's welfare. 

Certainly it gives the best possible promise of 
worldly prosperity. No one can take a readier 
way to establish himself in the respect and con- 
fidence of good men, and to gather around him 
the means of true enjoyment, than cordially to 
believe the doctrines, and faithfully practise 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 317 

the precepts of Christianity. The slightest 
consideration of the subject shows us that it 
must be so. Do the principles of the Bible 
ever lead to waste and prodigality ? The mis- 
spent Sabbath, the dram-shop, and the gaming- 
table often eat up the substance of a man, but 
prayer and church-going never do. Will piety 
carry discord and turmoil into the domestic 
circle ? Many a husband has reduced his fam- 
ily to rags and wretchedness, by visiting the 
evening club and the halls of merriment, but 
never by the worship and love of God. Will 
one's health be undermined by submitting to 
the rules of the gospel? Excessive worldly 
care brings multitudes to an untimely grave, 
but never does a well-balanced Christian tem- 
per shorten a man's days. 

There can be no ground for hesitancy on this 
subject. If " the way of transgressors is hard," 
if "the gall of bitterness" is connected with 
"the bonds of iniquity, 5 ' and if "the curse of 
the Lord is in the house of the wicked," we 
cannot expect to see either individuals or fam- 
ilies permanently flourish, if God is forgotten, 
and the Bible neglected, and the sanctuary for- 

27* 



318 THE SPRING-TiME OF LIFE. 

saken. I would not have you influenced by 
mere mercenary motives ; but there is a natu- 
ral and obvious connection between true piety 
and temporal success, and it cannot be wrong 
to show this connection. Eight feelings to- 
wards God are almost sure to produce those 
habits of industry and economy which sur- 
round men with comfort and competency. 
These are New Testament as well as Old Tes- 
tament blessings ; and it may be said in our 
day, as emphatically as it ever could be, " for- 
sake not "Wisdom, and she shall preserve thee, 
love her, and she shall keep thee, exalt her, 
and she shall promote thee; she shall bring 
thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her." 
If the prosperity you desire implies a compe- 
tency of earthly good, a well-regulated home, 
and a peaceful frame of mind, love to God, and 
faith in Christ, and trust in the promises are in 
their very nature calculated to secure all these 
blessings. You do not often find miserable 
destitution among people who read the Scrip- 
tures, and keep up morning and evening prayer, 
and attend church regularly, and commune 
with God. 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING, 319 

Do you still doubt? then ask the fathers, 
and they will teach you, and the elders, and 
they will tell you. Their testimony is that of 
men who have been young but now are old, 
and it all goes to show that the righteous are 
not forsaken, nor does his seed beg bread. In 
regard to this great matter, there can be no 
dispute. Heaven and earth unite in enforcing 
the injunction : Take fast hold of true Keligion ; 
"let her not go, keep her, for she is thy life." 
No other friend will prove so careful of your 
welfare. She will lodge with you at night, toil 
with you by day, make her abode with you in 
the city, travel with you in the wilderness, 
and sail with you on the ocean. You will find 
her presence on the stone where Jacob lay 
down to sleep, in the den where Daniel was 
surrounded by the hungry lions, by the pillar 
where Hannah moved her lips in silent suppli- 
cation, in the prison where Paul and Silas sang 
praises, and on the hill-side where the Man of 
Sorrows poured out his heart to God. She has 
written her name on many a cottage hearth, 
and many an opening cave, and many a dun- 
geon floor. Her business is to make men hap- 



320 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

pier as well as holier. Better that a vessel 
should be at sea without a rudder, than a 
young man in the world without piety. If 
the hour ever comes, when he is ready to re- 
solve not to seek the Lord, he may expect in 
turn that God will cast him off forever. 

It is of immense importance that all this 
should be well and thoroughly understood. 
Thousands look upon religion as valuable be- 
cause it is connected with a safe and peaceful 
death, but see nothing to endear it to them as 
a means of good for this world. This is one 
of the greatest mistakes into which the un- 
thinking multitude can fall. True piety is a 
rich present blessing. Its influence is felt 
beneficially upon all one's associations and 
connections in life. Let it universally prevail, 
and "our sons will be as plants grown up in 
their youth, and our daughters as corner- 
stones, polished after the similitude of a pal- 
ace." 

There are, however, dark hours in every life, 
and this leads me to add that religion is the 
only sure support in trouble. Come sooner or 
later, the evil day most assuredly will. Disap- 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 321 

pointment, misfortune, unkinclness, and incon- 
stancy all will crowd around your pathway, as 
you make your journey through this vale of 
tears. At any moment, health may decay, 
friends prove treacherous, and a cloud black 
as midnight overshadow your prospects. Be- 
sides, there are troubles of the heart, which no 
human medicine can cure, and trials of the 
spirit, which no music has power to charm. 
What shall such a child of sorrow do, when 
his gourd withers, and the sun beats on his 
naked head? It is not the boisterous song, 
or the merry dance, or the flowing bowl, that 
can cheer the mind in an hour like this. Ah ! 
said Sir John Mason, all things forsake me in 
my affliction, but my God, my Bible, and my 
prayers. It is only "to the upright" that 
a there arises light in darkness." 

Dr. Chalmers tells a story, which ought to 
convey a salutary lesson. A person in deep 
melancholy once went to an eminent physician 
to ask his advice ; and what think you was the 
answer he received ? He was gravely told, as 
the best remedy in his case, to attend the per- 
formances of a celebrated stage-player. This 



322 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

was the only balm which the learned medical 
man knew for a wounded spirit. But it turned 
out, to the discredit of his prescription, that the 
patient was this very actor himself, and that 
while he was, night after night, exciting the 
applause of a crowded theatre, his own heart 
was cold and cheerless as the grave. What a 
spectacle ! This poor man, went to kindle a 
rapture in which he could not participate, and 
to stand a dejected mourner in the midst of the 
tumultuous joy which his own voice had awak- 
ened. Would that every pleasure-loving youth 
would remember this lesson ! It teaches us in 
terms not to be gainsay ed, that the heart may 
be torn with anguish, while forced smiles seem 
to irradiate the countenance. 

Hume professed to be a happy man, how 
sincerely it is not very difficult to determine. 
You have all heard with what foolish and in- 
decent jesting he passed the hours of the last 
night he was permitted to live. This was 
done, no doubt, to keep up the impression that 
his principles sustained him to the very end. 
But the heart has its own testimony to give on 
such subjects, and there are times in every 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 323 

man's life, when its voice will be heard. This 
man, after much pains and labor, succeeded 
partially in making an infidel of his own moth- 
er ; but when he was absent from home, she fell 
sick, and was filled with mental anguish. In 
this emergency she wrote to her son, begging 
him to come back, or send her by letter the 
requisite consolations. Hume received the tid- 
ings with great sorrow, and set out at once ; 
but before he arrived the mother was in eter- 
nity. Infidelity fails in the hour of sadness. 

You must allow me to be specific here. We 
are all aware that it is no uncommon thing for 
the gayest flower to droop and die, just as it 
begins to send forth its sweetest fragrance. 
Yonder is an ardent, noble-minded young 
man, who at the very outset of his career, has 
been disappointed in the object on which he 
had most fully set his heart ; and what can 
comfort him now ? Here is a lovely female, 
through whose fresh joys the ploughshare of 
desolation has been ruthlessly driven, and now 
the hectic spot is coming out on her cheek. 
In the next dwelling is a young mother, who 
refuses to be comforted, because the babe she 



324 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

loved so well, and for a little while pressed so 
warmly to lier bosom is torn from her embrace, 
and put in its coffin. Now tell me what kind 
of cordials you would administer in cases like 
these ? Could you do better than commend 
such sad ones to the friendship of Him, who 
breaks not the bruised reed, nor quenches the 
smoking flax. 

Is there not something cruel, I had almost 
said inhuman, in sending these children of 
grief to look for consolation on the briery and 
thorny fields of the world? Eely upon it, no 
comforts but those that come from the cross, no 
music but that made by the harp of the Son of 
David, can relieve maladies like these. But 
blessed be God, 

" Earth has no sorrows which heaven cannot cure." 

Even the valley of the shadow of death is 
often lighted up by the presence of the Saviour. 
This is an event which may overtake you, 
while the pulse of youth is still throbbing full 
and strong in your veins, or it may be deferred 
until old age has made its unmistakable marks 
on your brow. But be its advent when it will, 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 325 

it must prove the crisis of your being, and con- 
sign you to eternal joys or eternal sorrows. In 
view of that awful hour, what is there to cheer 
the soul, but a well-established belief in the gos- 
pel of Christ, and a cordial reliance on the 
blood of the cross. No one, rest assured, is 
carried by angels to Abraham's bosom, merely 
because of his amiable dispositions, or his free- 
dom from open and disreputable vices. There 
must be a renewal of the heart unto righteous- 
ness, or the crown of glory that fadeth not 
away, can never be worn. 

Tell me then, is not religion necessary to 
human welfare? Look at man in prosperity 
and adversity, in health and in sickness, in life 
and in death, and say, does he not need just 
such a guide as the Bible, just such a refuge 
as Jesus, just such a father as God ? Under 
all these circumstances, he must learn to cast 
anchor within the veil, if he would be secure 
from the storm. When God is relied upon, 
and Christ is trusted in, and the Scriptures are 
loved, there can be " no enchantment against 
Jacob," nor " divination against Israel." 

My young friends, if you admit the truth of 
28 



326 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

what has been said, and admit it I know you 
do, then we shall expect you to stand up, in 
all companies, and on all occasions, open, bold, 
and manly advocates of the gospel. As far as 
in you lies, never suffer the book which brings 
such blessings to our world to be treated with 
contempt. Be understood everywhere as 
taking sides fearlessly and without flinching 
with the Sabbath, the Christian ministry, and 
the church of God. Less than this you cannot 
do, without proving treacherous to the best in- 
terests of your fellow-men. Less than this you 
cannot do, without causing a dark cloud to 
overspread the face of your own heavens. Less 
than this you cannot do, without being dere- 
lict in your duty to God. Be not like Esau, 
"who for one morsel of meat sold his birth- 
right." You are passing through your spbhstg- 
time ; be careful so to spend it, that you may 
have a pleasant summer, an abundant autumn, 
and a cheerful winter. 

Become truly and personally religious in 
early life. This you need for the expansion 
of your minds, and the rectification of your 
hearts, as a help to success, and a support un- 



RELIGION THE PRINCIPAL THING. 



327 



der disappointment. Nothing is so essential to 
your welfare, as an experimental faith, in Christ, 
and a daily subjection to his laws. Be good 
men and true men, of a sound creed and a holy 
life, men who fear God and keep his command- 
ments, and it will be well with you for both 
earth and. heaven. Your lot, I need not tell 
you, is cast upon eventful times. The world 
is probably on the eve of great changes. Be- 
fore the frosts of winter shall have whitened 
your heads, immense revolutions will occur in 
the state of society. 0, be prepared to stand 
in your lot, and perform your part faithfully. 
In the times which try men's souls, nothing 
will answer like a steady, cheerful trust in 
God. See to it that all is right here, and all 
will be right everywhere. This is firm foot- 
ing. Here is solid rock. 

Only be right with God, and come joy or 
come sorrow, the issue will be safe. No fear 
for you, if you but make it your earnest morn- 
ing and evening prayer, that you may be led 
in the way of peace and truth, by the blessed 
Spirit. Under such teachings your feet shall 
not stumble, nor will you ever wander from 



328 THE SPRING-TIME OF LIFE. 

the way. Should disease invade your body, 
and death lay its icy hand upon you in early 
life, you may lift up your eyes, and say as did 
a dear friend of mine, " Blessed Saviour, I am 
near my home. Satan has tried to disturb me, 
but I have examined the ground of my hope, 
and find that I am on a rock. Yes, I feel that 
I am on a rock." 

These pages have cost me thought, and la- 
bor, and prayer ; but I ask no richer reward 
than to be the instrument in the hand of God, 
of helping you to become useful men and true 
Christians. " The Lord bless you and keep 
you. The Lord make his face to shine upon 
you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift 
up his countenance upon you, and give you 
peace." 



THE END. 



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